England are in the T20 World Cup semi-finals with six victories from seven, yet they still haven’t produced that all-singing, all-dancing performance coaches dream about. Does it even matter? “Well, short answer is no,” said Will Jacks after collecting his fourth Player-of-the-Match award in the last-over win against New Zealand in Colombo.
The all-rounder’s verdict sums up England’s campaign so far: scrappy at times, decisive when it counts. Chasing 160 on Friday, Harry Brook’s men needed 43 off the last three overs when Rehan Ahmed joined Jacks. Three balls later the mood had flipped; 22 runs off Glenn Phillips swung it England’s way and the game was done with three balls left.
Jacks admitted the chase had him “nervous”, especially after watching Sri Lanka fold against New Zealand on the same surface. “I knew that was a big task,” he said. “We’ve seen the Sri Lanka game two nights ago on this pitch and how well New Zealand were bowling, and I watched how our batters were finding it having bowled on it myself. I knew that was a lot of runs. So I knew we needed to do something special.”
Ahmed provided the spark, launching the second ball of the 18th over for six. “That ball that Rehan hit, a six on the second ball, that gave me energy as well. And I thought, right, we’ve got a chance here,” Jacks explained. “And then obviously I finished the over 6, 4, 4, and, we were on. I think small moments like that [are] so important and not just the runs but the way it happens, hitting a big six and really showing the bowler that you’re on here and we believe that we can win this is, is really crucial and from that moment I think the mindset changed.”
That calmness in tight finishes has been England’s calling card. They have defended modest totals, survived top-order wobbles and, crucially, kept cool heads at the death with both bat and ball. “We’ve won six out of seven games and we’ve qualified for a semi-final. At the end of the day no one really cares,” Jacks said with a shrug. “We obviously want to play well in there, but we’re not gutted that we haven’t played the perfect game because we’re winning. And that’s T20 cricket, that’s professional sport.”
It helps that Jacks is contributing everywhere: power-play wickets, electric fielding, late-innings hitting. Robert Cianflone’s lens caught him celebrating another key scalp – a neat summary of his month.
The numbers back up his point. England’s batting average this tournament sits in the middle of the pack, their economy rate only fractionally better, yet they keep pinching the high-leverage overs. Those 12-ball momentum swings are where tournaments are won.
Next stop is Mumbai for the second semi-final. Barring an unlikely collapse in the final Super Eights fixture, England will meet the winner of India v West Indies – the latter already know how to turn over Brook’s side at the Wankhede. England are wary but not worried. As Jacks put it, perfection is overrated; timing your punch matters more.
There are issues to iron out. The top three have combined for only one half-century stand, and the fifth bowler quota has leaked runs on flat decks. Still, the dressing-room message is consistent: stick with the method, trust the depth, win the moments.
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, analysing the finish on television, called Jacks “one of the calmest finishers going around right now,” adding that the ability to “slow the heart-rate when everyone else is speeding up” separates him from others.
England would settle for another imperfect, gritty victory in Mumbai. After all, trophies rarely come with artistic marks.
