English all-rounder Will Jacks who missed out on making his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) smashed an unbeaten 83 for Surrey in the ongoing T20 Blast 2023. Surrey led Surrey's run chase despite wickets falling at other end against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl, Southampton.
Jacks leads run chase
In the run chase, Jacks' opening partner Laurie Evans lost his wicket in the fourth over. Jacks utilised powerplay overs and smashed three sixes to take their score to 52/1 after six overs. Sam Curran failed to make an impact as well and lost his wicket to Mason Crane.
In Crane's next over, Jacks hit two sixes to bring down the required run rate. In the 11th over, he reached his half-century from 36 deliveries. Liam Dawson struck twice in the 12th over with the wickets of Tom Curran and Sunil Narine.
In next two overs, not a single boundary was scored. Surrey needed 56 runs in the last six overs. Jacks then hit Crane for three consecutive sixes to even the odds. He got support from Jamie Smith as well who contributed with an unbeaten 22-ball 30. Jacks hit the winning runs in the penultimate over as Surrey won the game by six wickets with seven balls to spare. The 24-year-old remained unbeaten for 83 off 57 balls including two fours and eight sixes.
Vince lacks support from other end
Earlier, Surrey captain Chris Jordan won the toss and opted to field first. Sean Abbott struck with the new ball removing Ben McDermott. James Vince who has been out of England’s senior T20I side for more than a year anchored the innings for Hampshire. Tom Prest struggled to score at a good strike rate and contributed with a run-a-ball 33.
Joe Weatherley and Ross Whiteley failed to make a mark in the slog overs. Vince did the bulk of scoring and even hit Jordan for four fours in a single over. He remained unbeaten for 88 runs from 56 balls including eight fours and three sixes. He helped Hampshire post 156/4.
Jacks’ replacement in RCB
In the ongoing tournament, Jacks has scored 156 runs from four games at an average of 52 and strike rate of 154.46. Jacks was picked for Rs 3.2 crore in the auction by RCB but an injury ruled him out of the tournament. He was replaced by New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell in the side who had an ordinary debut season.
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