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Jacks the Giants killer in fairytale performance

cricket18 January 2024 19:48| © MWP
By:Patrick Compton
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Will Jacks delivered a fairytale performance by striking a sensational century in 42 balls and then claiming two key wickets as the Pretoria Capitals finally got off the mark in their Betway SA20 clash with a 17-run win against Durban’s Super Giants at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday night.

Jacks belted 101, including eight fours and nine sixes, in just 42 balls, to push the Pretoria Capitals to 204 for nine after they won the toss and batted first on a superb batting surface.

He then turned bowler and his off-spin saw off the Super Giants’ dangerman, Heinrich Klaasen, for a single.

He also bowled opener Kyle Mayers for 11 to finish with the outstanding figures of 2/18 in his three-over spell.

But the Super Giants never gave up and, contrary to the faltering end to the Capitals’ innings, the visitors made it uncomfortable for their opponents with a late surge which resulted in the Capitals’ Jimmy Neesham having to defend 23 off the final over.

This he achieved with ease, however, as he only conceded five runs off his final six deliveries.

In truth, the Super Giants never really looked like winning the game with seven of their batsmen getting starts but nobody going on to compile a significant, match-winning innings.

Opener Matthew Breetzke was the highest scorer, cracking 33 off 24 balls, Quinton de Kock struck 25 off 20 balls and Jon-Jon Smuts 27 off 23 balls.

At the death, Dwaine Pretorius (19* off 10 balls) and Keshav Maharaj (25* off 12) did their best but the visitors were always behind the eight-ball, largely due to Jacks’s heroics.

In the circumstances, the Englishman’s player of the match award was a no-brainer.

Having opened their campaign with two consecutive defeats, the Capitals are now on the board with four points while the Super Giants suffered a hiccup after winning their first three games.

 

Earlier, in a stunning display of power hitting on a wonderful surface for batting, the Surrey allrounder – who described SuperSport Park as his “favourite ground in the world “ struck the quickest hundred in the competition to date and his second in T20s.

One of the most remarkable aspects of his innings was that he was out off the last ball of the 13th over, potentially leaving himself another seven overs to plunder more runs.

As it was, he had struck 101 out of a total of 151 when he became the fourth Pretoria Capitals’ wicket to fall.

SCINTILLATING KNOCK

After his dismissal, however, the Super Giants made a spectacular recovery, claiming five wickets for nine runs at the end of the innings, thereby restricting the home team to a decent but far from insurmountable total when the Capitals might have expected to score in excess of 230 after Jacks’s turbo-charged innings.

As it was, the Capitals only reached the 200 mark in the final over as the innings ended with something of a whimper.

An example of the visitors’ comeback was that paceman Reece Topley recorded a double-wicket maiden off his final over, and the 19th of the innings.

Altogether the left-arm quick finished with 3-34 in four overs with Junior Dala claiming 2-34.

The man who changed the momentum of the Capitals’ innings, however, was paceman Dwaine Pretorius who claimed Jacks’s wicket.

Jacks and partner Phil Salt had earlier made the most of their skipper Wayne Parnell’s winning the toss and choosing to bat on a typically friendly batting track at SuperSport Park.

The pair dominated the bowling to such an extent that the 50 came up in 3.4 overs, the second quickest half-century opening partnership in the competition to date.

After reaching a stratospheric 74 after five overs, the Giants briefly slowed the home team’s momentum when Topley had Salt (23 in 13 balls) caught in the covers and then Keshav Maharaj had Theunis de Bruyn (2) caught at deep midwicket while Rilee Rossouw cut Keemo Paul to short third man.

Jacks, meanwhile continued on his merry way and he reached his 100 off Pretorius with his ninth six over long-on before slashing his next ball to cover.

Jacks’s scintillating knock was not replicated by his fellow batsmen who, by comparison with the Englishman, showed feet of clay against the bowling when they might have expected to score a deluge of runs.

The only exception was Colin Ingram who hit a brisk 43 off 23 balls but the Capitals’ last six batsmen were only able to cobble together 11 runs.

Fortunately for the home team, Jacks’s brilliant opening was more than enough to compensate for the poor ending.

PRETORIA CAPITALS:Phil Salt (wk), Will Jacks, Theunis de Bruyn, Rilee Rossouw, Colin Ingram, Jimmy Neesham, Corbin Bosch, Wayne Parnell (capt), Hardus Viljoen, Eathan Bosch, Adil Rashid.

DURBAN'S SUPER GIANTS:Matthew Breetzke, Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Mayers, Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, Keemo Paul, Marcus Stoinis, Dwayne Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj (capt), Junior Dala, Reece Topley

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