Will Jacks put on an explosive batting performance with bat in hand as a finisher and picked up a wicket with the ball as England beat Italy by 24 runs to qualify for the Super 8s. Will Jacks got his maiden T20I fifty and what a time to get the runs for his country. England batted first and thanks to Jacks’ fifty and others chipping in as well with England posting a massive 202/7 in 20 overs with 80 coming off the last 5 overs.
In reply, Italy were rocked early by Jofra Archer as he picked up two wickets in the first over while Jamie Overton and Sam Curran picked up 3 wickets apiece. Ben Manenti played a blinder scoring 60 off 25 balls and Grant Stewart made 45 off 23 balls and Justin Mosca made 43 off 34 balls as Italy put up a brave fight and scored 178 in 20 overs to lose the game by 24 runs.
Will Jacks’ explosive half century powers England to 202/7
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Philip Salt and Jos Buttler came out to open for England while JJ Smuts had ball in hand for Italy. Salt began the match with a boundary down the ground and he was off and running doing the bulk of the scoring. But Buttler did not last long. England managed to score 21 in 2 overs and the duo’s partnership ended at 21 as Buttler fell for 3 off 4 balls to Grant Stewart. Jacob Bethell came out to bat next and was off the blocks straightaway.
Bethell and Salt kept the tempo going for England in the powerplay. Salt got a quick start and so did Bethell as the duo put on 33 runs for the second wicket before Salt fell for 28 off 15 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name falling to Ali Hasan. Tom Banton came out to bat next. England were 56/2 in 6 overs at the end of powerplay.
Bethell and Banton added 13 runs to the tally for the third wicket before Bethell fell for 23 off 20 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Ben Manenti. Captain Harry Brook came out to bat next and played his shots as well. He was quickly on the move as well. The duo of Banton and Brook added 25 runs for the 4th wicket before Brook gave his wicket away for 14 off 9 balls with one four and one six to his name. Sam Curran came out to bat next.
Banton and Curran’s partnership was a short one as well. The duo added another 13 runs for the 5th wicket before Banton fell for 30 off 21 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Crishan Kalugamage. Will Jacks joined Curran in the middle with about 7 odd overs to go. From here, it was the Will Jacks show as he took the game away from Italy. Curran played second fiddle. The duo started from the middle phase and entered the death overs phase which they nailed it perfectly.
Curran complimented Jacks as the last 5 overs totally went England’s way. The duo put on 54 runs for the 6th wicket before Curran fell for 25 off 19 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Kalugamage. Jamie Overton came out to bat next. Overton chipped in as well but it was Jacks all the way. He struck his maiden T20I half century and what a time to do it for him. Overton and Jacks put on 35 runs for the 7th wicket before Overton fell for 15 off 9 balls with one four and one six to his name to Stewart. Jofra Archer came out to bat and got off the mark as well.
Jacks hit another maximum and England got past 200. 8 runs were added for the 8th wicket as England crossed the 200-run mark and they finished with 202/7 in 20 overs. Jacks stayed unbeaten on 53 off 22 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes to his name while Archer remained unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 10 extras given by the fielding side.
Italy had a mixed night with the ball. Crishan Kalugamage finished with 2/41 in 4 overs. Grant Stewart finished with 2/51 in 4 overs. JJ Smuts finished with 1/24 in 3 overs. Ali Hasan finished with 1/37 in 4 overs. Ben Manenti finished with 1/37 in 4 overs. Jaspreet Singh finished with an over for 10 runs. So, Italy needed 203 runs to win off 20 overs for a famous win.
Jamie Overton & Sam Curran star as Italy finish with 178 in 20 overs
Chasing 203 for the win, Justin Mosca and Anthony Mosca came out to open for Italy while Jofra Archer had ball in hand for England. England got off to a dream start as Archer removed Anthony for a golden duck. JJ Smuts came out to bat next. Smuts also fell in the same over at the same score as Archer had two in the over with Smuts falling for a duck. Italy were 1/2 in 1 over. Harry Manenti came out to bat next as the captain had job in hand.
Harry and Justin tried to forge a partnership to bring the Italians back in the game. The duo could only add 21 runs for the third wicket before Harry Manenti the captain fell for 12 off 11 balls with one four and one six to his name to Jamie Overton. Ben Manenti came out to bat next and he came out all guns blazing for Italy.
The powerplay score was 47/3 in 6 overs. But the duo of Justin and Ben did not stop there as they aced the middle phase. Ben played a blinder while Justin the opening batter played second fiddle and held the innings together. The duo of Justin and Ben added 92 runs in 8 overs before Ben fell for an explosive 60 off 25 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes to his name. Grant Stewart came out to bat next. Stewart was also very brave out there in the middle.
The duo of Justin and Stewart added 21 runs for the 5th wicket before Justin fell for 43 off 34 balls with 7 fours to his name to Adil Rashid. Marcus Campopiano came out to bat next. Just 3 runs were added to the tally before Campopiano came and went for 2 off 6 balls to Sam Curran. Keeper batter Gian Piero Meade came out to bat next. He came and went for a golden duck as Sam had two in two balls. Jaspreet Singh came out to bat next.
Stewart and Jaspreet Singh got together at 138/7 with the match as good as over. But Stewart and Jaspreet were not willing to give up. Stewart in particular as he played a blinder and gave England a minor scare. The duo added 40 runs in no time for the 8th wicket before Grant finally fell for 45 off 23 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes to his name to Sam Curran. Crushan Kalugamage came out to bat next. He survived the last ball.
The score remained at 178 when Jaspreet fell for 12 off 10 balls with one six to his name to Jamie Overton. Ali Hasan came out to the middle and he too was cleaned up by Overton for a duck as the last over was a double wicket maiden over from Overton. Italy were bowled out for 178 in 20 overs with Kalugamage unbeaten on 0 off 1 ball. 4 extras given by the fielding side.
Jamie Overton was the pick of the bowlers for England with figures of 3/18 in 4 overs. Sam Curran chipped in with 3/22 in 3 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 2/35 in 4 overs. Will Jacks finished with 1/34 in 2 overs. Adil Rashid finished with 1/43 in 4 overs with 21 coming off his last over. Liam Dawson finished with 0/25 in 3 overs. So, England win this match by 24 runs and qualifies now for the Super 8s. Will Jacks was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead.Â
England have finished their group stage engagements and will now be off to play their Super 8 games in Sri Lanka while Italy will have one game to play against West Indies in Kolkata in a Group C clash. Plenty of action coming your way as we have one more game remaining tonight. It’s Australia vs Sri Lanka from Pallekele in a Group B clash. Let’s see if the Aussies can keep their Super 8s hopes alive.
Also Read: ICC T20 WC 2026: Will Jacks’ Explosive Half-Century Powers England Past 200.