Will Jacks scored an incredible unbeaten hundred during RCB’s win over Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad today (April 28).
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Chasing 201 for their third victory of IPL 2024, RCB got off to a good start. Jacks came out to bat at No.3 with the scoreboard reading 40-1 off 3.5 overs. Him and Virat Kohli kept up with the asking rate as RCB reached 98-1 at the halfway mark.
For the majority of the partnership, Kohli was the aggressor as he reached his fifty off 32 balls and looked set to end up close to a hundred. However, the tide changed after the second strategic timeout.
Struggling Will Jacks finds his timing after time out
Jacks had struggled to 17 off 17 when he hit his first six of the game in the 11th over off Mohit Sharma. He hit another six on the last ball of the 13th over by Sai Kishore after which the timeout was taken. At that stage, RCB needed 67 runs off the last seven overs. Jacks was batting on 37 and Kohli on 66. By the end of the game, Jacks would reach his hundred, scoring 63 of those runs, while Kohli added only four more runs to his tally.
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He first slogged a Noor Ahmad delivery for six on the fifth ball of the 14th over, before going into an unbelievable rampage that left Kohli laughing at the non-striker’s end.
10 boundaries off the last 12 balls
Mohit Sharma came on to bowl the 15th, with RCB needing another 53 runs to win. The first ball of the over was pulled to the leg side for four. The second ball, another slower delivery, was smashed over the ropes for a six and so was the third, which also ended up being a waist-high no-ball.
After 12 overs, RCB needed 78 more runs to win. Kohli was on 63* (38), Jacks on 29* (22).
After 16 overs, the game was done. Kohli finished on 70* (44), Jacks on 100* (41).
Outrageous hitting from the Englishman, including seven sixes off his last 11 deliveries 🤯#IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/RaIwJfTpfJ
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 28, 2024
The free hit brought two runs before Jacks smoked another six off another slower delivery – the third such instance in the over. The last two balls fetched one more boundary as the equation dropped down to 24 off five overs, with the 15th over costing GT a whopping 29 runs.
If that was not enough carnage, Jacks was back on strike on the second ball of the next over, bowled by Rashid Khan. Needing another 28 runs for his hundred, he didn’t have a lot of room to play with as RCB required only another 23. The only option he had was to level the scores and hit a six, which is exactly what he did.
The last five balls of his innings read: six, six, four, six, six, as RCB finished the game in 16 overs and Jacks reached his fourth T20 ton, off just 41 balls. Jacks’ last 24 balls brought him 83 runs.
With this victory, RCB went up to six points, but are still at the bottom of the table courtesy of their negative net run rate.
