Pallekele [Sri Lanka], February 22 : England all-rounder Will Jacks joined the elite list with Australia and Zimbabwe all-rounders Shane Watson and Sikandar Raza, becoming the player with the joint second-most 'Player of the Match' awards in a single T20 World Cup edition.
The blonde-haired all-rounder continued to be a constant ray of hope and a symbol of consistency in an English line-up that has delivered mixed bag performances so far. First with a 14-ball 21, with four boundaries, he pushed Three Lions to a modest 146/9 and later, with his spell of 3/22 in four overs, broke the back of Sri Lankan batting with wickets of Kusal Mendis, Pavan Rathnayake, and Dunith Wellalage.
Now, he has won his third 'Player of the Match' award in this tournament so far and has levelled with Sikandar, who also secured three such honours in the 2022 edition in Australia. However, it is Australian legend Watson who is at the top, securing four POTM titles in the 2012 edition.
In five matches and innings so far, Jacks has scored 131 runs at an average of 65.50, with a strike rate of 195.52, including a half-century and best score of 53*. He has also picked up five wickets at an average of 21.00, delivering his best bowling figures in this match against Sri Lanka.
His previous two 'Player of the Match' performances came against Italy and Nepal. Against Nepal at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, it was his late flourish, a knock of 39* in 18 balls, with a four and four sixes, including three maximums in the final over, that took England to 184/7. Later, with the ball, he took a crucial wicket of Kushal Burthel, who was going strong in the powerplay, ending with 1/17 in two overs and leaving Nepal four runs short at 180/6.
Days later in Kolkata's iconic Eden Gardens, it was the all-rounder's 22-ball unbeaten 53, with three fours and four sixes, that pushed England to 202/7 in 20 overs from 159/5 in 16.5 overs. In his two-over spell of 1/34, he got the prized wicket of Ben Maneti, who scored 60 in just 34 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes and had Italy at 114/3 in the 12th over. Jacks' wicket played a crucial role in leaving Italy 24 runs short at 178 all out, despite a late assault from Grant Stewart, who made a 23-ball 45.
Coming to this match against Sri Lanka, SL won the toss and opted to bowl first, and their bowlers ripped out the heart of England's batting by removing Buttler (7), Jacob Bethell (3), Tom Banton (6), Harry Brook (14) and Sam Curran (11), reducing them to 94/5 in 13.2 overs. It was Salt's valiant 62 in 40 balls, with six fours and two sixes and a quick cameo of 21 in 14 balls, with four boundaries from Will Jacks, that pushed England towards 146/9 in 20 overs.
Dunith Wellalage (3/26 in four overs) and Maheesh Theekshana (2/21 in four overs) managed to tame England against spin, a key weakness of theirs, while Dilshan Madushanka (2/25 in four overs) and Dushmantha Chameera (1/34 in four overs) also got wickets.
SL did not look like a threat during the chase, with Jacks (3/22), Liam Dawson (2/27 in four overs), Jofra Archer (2/20 in three overs), and Adil Rashid (2/13 in 3.4 overs) quickly getting the wickets to skittle out SL for just 95 runs in 16.4 overs.