The recently signed wicketkeeper batter for the Mumbai Indians, Quinton de Kock, was the hero for the match in the SA20 2026 against Pretoria Capitals at St George’s Park, Gqeberha.
Quinton de Kock Guides Sunrisers Eastern Cape with the Stick
Quinton de Kock was the first to bat for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in a match where they went in at the top of the order with Jonny Bairstow. Bairstow was dismissed for a small number of runs, but de Kock and Matthew Breetzke put together a partnership of 116 runs for the second wicket. Then, de Kock was out. The South African wicketkeeper-batter made 77 runs off 47 balls with five fours and six sixes, and he played at a strike rate of 163.83.
Sunrisers Eastern Cape ended up scoring 188/6 in 20 overs, with Breetzke contributing 52 and Jordan Hermann 32. De Kock has made an impressive start to the SA20 2026 season. In the last match against Paarl Royals, he made 42, and has a total of 119 runs in two matches so far.
On the other hand, Pretoria Capitals were bowled out for 140 runs making the Sunrisers winners by 48 runs. Adam Milne took four wickets in the bowling department, while Tharindu Rathnayake took two, and Marco Jansen, Senuran Muthusamy, and Lewis Gregory took one wicket each. This victory has made the Sunrisers Eastern Cape win the first two matches of the new season.
The lowering of the base price has facilitated Mumbai Indians in finalizing the deal
The year 2025 did not witness Quinton de Kock batting during the year, but after he unretired from ODI cricket his fortunes changed. His tally in ODIs has two fifties and two centuries since then. He also had a T20I series where he scored 90 in the third game and 65 in the fifth. At the IPL 2026 auction, he was picked by Mumbai Indians for INR 1 crore, which was his base price. Initially, he was not in the list of players who registered but later on, he registered.
Usually, the base price would have been INR 2 crores, but this time he opted for INR 1 crore. Mumbai Indians had only INR 2.75 crore remaining in their kitty, and no other side was interested in the deal, so they put a bid for him. He was with Mumbai Indians before co-joining in 2019 till 2021, and he made more than 500 runs in both 2019 and 2020 seasons. Considering his present form, he is incredibly likely to be the first choice for an opening batsman in the playing XI with Rohit Sharma.