T20 World Cup: Jacks helps Eng pull off a Houdini act –again

There are some players who just don’t give up and their never-say-die attitude lifts the team. England’s Will Jacks has hauled his team out of trouble repeatedly this world cup and its now time the rest rallied around. His 21 of 14 against Sri Lanka may seem a modest contribution but it came at a time when England looked like fading away. They finished with 146 which is not much but it had the semblance of a fighting total.

Though England is yet to shine as a batting unit, the bowlers came good as Lankan batters allowed a rush of blood to get to them and lost the first four for scores of 9, 6, 4 and 0. Not a great way to get going. They never quite recovered from the early missteps and the hundreds of fan who came to the Kandy stadium looking for a home team win soon looked morose and dispirited. On felt for them as they had every right to hope for a better result at the half way stage when England fell short of 150.

If the back in form Jofra Archer accounted for openers Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara, Jacks could not be kept out of the action and sent the dangerous Kusal Mendis on his way with a caught and bowled. He then took the next two wickets as well more or less sealing the day’s game in England’s favour. The England dominance can be estimated by the fact that Sam Curran wasn’t called on to bowl.

After Archer and Jacks, veteran Adil Rashid’s leg spin and Liam Dawson’s left arm orthodox fare kept Lanka pegged on to the backfoot. Here too Jacks could not be denied the spot light, taking a wonderfully judged catch at the boundary and displaying the presence of mind to chuck the ball to the waiting Tom Banton before crossing the rope. That was the end of Dasun Shanaka.

There could not be a better example of a fully committed player and Jacks ability to consistently deliver his A game is a big factor in England making it to the Super 8 stage and then getting off to a winning start in the more competitive leg of the tournament. England will hope his positivity and skill will rub off and winning difficult games gets the team going. The main problem has been the lack of form of the top batters who seem to be all struggling at present.

After Jamie Overton got Dushan Hemantha hit wicket and Dawson bowled Dushmantha Chameera, Rashid returned to mop the last wicket and England were home and dry with an unexpected 51 run win that they will be happy to sleep over.