England are through to the 2026 T20 World Cup semifinals, finishing the Super Eights with three wins in three matches in the stage. At the same time though, they have been put in spots of bother more often than not in almost every game they have played throughout the tournament and the same was the case in Friday’s four-wicket win over New Zealand in Colombo. Will Jacks practically batted and bowled England to victory and he said that despite the slightly rocky ride, England are having fun under the captaincy of Harry Brook.
“I think this group is in the era of Harry Brook. He is our white-ball captain,” Jacks told reporters in Colombo. “And I think that is something that we’ve been really focusing on. He has got us to play a certain way, and I think the environment around the group led by him is absolutely brilliant. Hopefully, everyone can see that we’re having fun and we’re approaching the game in the right way. And I think that’s why we’ve had some success.”
England’s Will Jacks celebrates the wicket of New Zealand’s Finn Allen. (AP Photo)
Jacks first returned figures of 2/23 as New Zealand put up a total of 159/7 batting first. England then found themselves needing 43 runs to win from the last three overs with Jacks in the middle with Rehan Ahmed. Jacks admitted that he was nervous at that point considering how New Zealand’s spinners had brushed away the Sri Lankan batters on the same pitch with the latter chasing a similar target. “I knew that was a big task,” Jacks said. “We’ve seen the Sri Lanka game two nights ago on this pitch and how well New Zealand were bowling, and I watched how our batters were finding it having bowled on it myself. I knew that was a lot of runs. So I knew we needed to do something special.” Jacks finished unbeaten on 32 off 18 balls.
England will face India or West Indies in the semi-finals, with the two sides meeting on Sunday. Jacks said they would be ready for either opponent. “We’ll be watching their game Sunday and we’ll see the outcome. We’ll be prepared and I think we’ll go into it with optimism and excitement.”
