South Africa coach Russell Domingo is keeping his faith with out-of-form Quinton de Kock despite the opener 's lack of runs . De Kock 's 26 against United Arab Emirates in their last World Cup pool game was his highest score in his last seven one-day internationals , a run that followed his century against Australia in November . The difficult patch , including five single-figure scores , is a far cry from De Kock 's early career form , which once saw him score three straight centuries against India in December 2013 . Quinton de Kock looks to the skies in dejection after being caught out against the UAE for 26 runs . The out-of-form opener leaves the field after being dismissed against Pakistan for a duck . While AB De Villiers and Hashim Amla currently lead the run charts for the Proteas , ahead of their quarter-final against Sri Lanka on Wednesday at Sydney , Domingo is confident De Kock is closer than ever to a match-winning innings . When asked if De Kock was facing a mental barrier , Domingo told a press conference : ' I am not a sports psychologist but I do n't know how a player can be perceived to be mentally shot . It 's a little bit nasty . 'It 's going to be a tough selection ( meeting ) . On the one hand we know Quinton has got the ability to win games . But it 's often difficult to have all six batters in form at the same time . 'We just sort of have this gut feeling that Quinton has got a big score around the corner . He 's done well against Sri Lanka . I 'm sure he 'll have a good feeling playing against Sri Lanka . ' One player De Kock can look up to outside of his own dressing room is Kumar Sangakkara , with the Sri Lankan currently leading the World Cup run-scoring charts at 496 - he has four successive centuries to boot and is fighting for the number one ranking with De Villiers . De Kock is set to continue at the top of the South Africa batting order for the quarter-final against Sri Lanka . South Africa coach Russell Domingo believes De Kock is due a big score . For Domingo , though , the law of averages again is a handy way to look at things , as he added : 'He 's in the form of his life . You 've got to think his low score is just round the corner I suppose . 'But we have worked on some plans that we feel we need to execute well against him . ' And while South Africa hope they have 'learned from the lessons ' of past sides , Sri Lanka are getting political in their approach to the knockout stage . No less than Sri Lanka 's president and prime minister have offered their vocal support , with the latter unsurprisingly keen to claim his successful election campaign from January as the benchmark for aiming high . In quotes paraphrased in a statement on Sri Lanka cricket 's website , prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe stressed on the need to study South Africa 's weaknesses , adding : 'That 's what some of us did last December . '
South Africa play Sri Lanka in the World Cup quarter-final on last December . Quinton de Kock 's 26 against UAE was his highest score in seven ODIs . Coach Russell Domingo is keeping faith with his out-of-form opener . Domingo is sure De Kock is set for a match-winning innings .