England survived a scare to qualify for the Super Eights at the T20 World Cup on Monday as Italy’s swashbuckling chase of 203 fell agonisingly short in a pulsating match in Kolkata. Will Jacks scored the fastest T20 World Cup fifty for England as they made 202-7, their highest total of the tournament so far, and eventually won by 24 runs. Italy, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, were on track to pull off a sensational upset when Grant Stewart and Jaspreet Singh blasted 21 off Adil Rashid’s final over, the 17th of the chase, including three sixes.
That left 30 needed off 21 balls, but it proved too much and Italy were all out off the last ball of the match for 178. Most of England’s batsmen got good starts earlier after Harry Brook won the toss and chose to bat. But only Jacks capitalised as Italy kept chipping away with regular wickets.
He reached his fifty off 21 balls to beat Eoin Morgan’s 25-ball effort against the West Indies in Kandy in 2012. Jacks took the game by the scruff of the neck after England stuttered to 105-5 in the 13th over. He put on 54 in 25 balls with Sam Curran (25) for the sixth wicket and 35 in 16 balls with Jamie Overton (15) for the seventh.
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His fourth six, which took him to his fifty, also saw England pass 200 for the first time in the tournament, with Jacks finishing 53 not out off 22 balls. The win guaranteed England’s passage to the Super Eights along with the already-qualified West Indies from Group C, South Africa and India. Italy got off to a terrible start in reply as Jofra Archer took wickets in the first over.
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