T20 World Cup: Will Jacks's all-round brilliance sinks Sri Lanka
What's the story
Will Jacks played a key role in England's comeback victory against Sri Lanka, helping them win by 51 runs in a low-scoring Super Eight match at the T20 World Cup. The co-hosts had done well to restrict England to a modest total of 146/9 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. However, Jacks's late innings contribution and his stellar bowling performance turned the tide in favor of England. Here are further details.
Match highlights
Jacks's match-winning performance
Batting at number seven, Jacks scored a valuable 21 off 14 balls and then took three wickets for just 22 runs. His efforts helped England bowl out Sri Lanka for a mere 95 runs in just under 17 overs. "It encourages me to get into the game and perform better," said Jacks, who was named Player of the Match. "Bowling in the powerplay is something I've done a lot of. So it's not foreign to me."
Cameo
Jacks provided England the late impetus
After being put in to bat first, England struggled with their top order. Captain Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, and Tom Banton fell cheaply, leaving the team at a precarious 68/4 at the halfway mark of their innings. However, Phil Salt's aggressive knock of 62 runs off just 36 balls helped England post a competitive total. Jacks smashed four boundaries in his 21-run knock to power the team past 140.
Bowling prowess
Jacks claimed three wickets in the powerplay
England's bowlers put up a stellar performance, reducing Sri Lanka to 22/4 in the first five overs. Jacks dismissed Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake off successive deliveries after Jofra Archer had sent back Pathum Nissanka. Archer also removed Kamil Mishara as Sri Lanka crumbled to 34/5 after Dunith Wellalage became Jacks's third victim. The Lankans could not recover from Jacks and Archer's powerplay assault, and hence recorded their third-lowest T20 WC total (95/10).
DYK
Yet another PoTM award for Jacks
After scoring an important 14-ball 21, Jacks took three wickets for 22 runs in his four overs. This performance earned him the third Player-of-the-Match award across five games in this edition. Only Australia's Shane Watson has claimed more such honors in a T20 WC campaign (4 in 2012). The Englishman went par with Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza, who also clinched three awards in the 2022 tournament.
Stats
Here are his overall stats
The off-spinner has raced to five wickets in this edition at 21. His tally also includes 131 runs at a strike rate of 195.52 (50: 1). With his latest efforts, Jacks has completed 535 runs from 36 T20Is at a strike rate of 145.77 (50: 1). The tally also includes 12 wickets at an economy rate of 8.53.