Will Jack’s all-round performance helped England crush Sri Lanka

Sports Desk
After playing a key role with the bat under pressure, Will Jacks also shone with the ball. England began the Super Eight round by blowing away Sri Lanka with his all-round skills.

​Sri Lanka, one of the tournament hosts, seemed to be in a comfortable position after restricting England to just 146-9 in this Group 2 match held at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

​Jacks took 3 wickets for 22 runs after scoring a crucial 21 runs towards the end of the innings. His bowling helped Sri Lanka to 95 all out in 17 overs.

“It motivates me to focus on the game and perform well,” said Matchera Jacks. He added, “I’ve bowled a lot in the powerplay. So it’s not something new to me.”

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to field, and his decision seemed to be the right one when England were in danger of losing 68-4 halfway through the innings.

Jos Buttler’s 14-ball struggle ended when he was caught lbw while reverse-sweeping off spinner Dunneth Welalag. He was dismissed with seven runs on the pads.

Spinner Mahesh Thikshana dismissed the in-form Jacob Bethell for three runs and Tom Banton was run out by Shanaka’s direct throw from mid-off while taking a risky single.

Harry Brook was out lbw by Wellaw after scoring 14 runs. The England captain appealed the decision but was unsuccessful.

Phil Salt (62) reached a quick half-century off 36 balls, but was dismissed for a big shot in the 15th over, becoming Wales’ third victim.
​Jacks added some runs towards the end, but England failed to cross the 150-run mark.

England needed some bold bowling to beat Sri Lanka and that’s exactly what they did, reducing Sri Lanka to 22-4 in five overs.

After Jofra Archer dismissed Sri Lanka’s in-form opener Pathum Nissanka, Jacks dismissed Kusal Mendis and Pawan Rathnayake in two consecutive balls.

​Archer dismissed Kamil Mishara and Wellalage became Jacks’ third victim as Sri Lanka limped to 34-5.

The hosts could not overcome the shock and several top-order batsmen gave away wickets easily.

Dushan Hemanth’s bizarre ‘hit-wicket’ dismissal paints a sad picture of Sri Lanka’s batting disaster.

Shanaka fought back to score 30, but a skillful catch by Jacks near the boundary ensured England’s victory when the Sri Lankan captain was dismissed