Jacks smacks Capitals to first win in SA20

Will Jacks, scored a century, took two wickets and claimed a catch to help the Pretoria Capitals to their first win in this season’s SA20 at SuperSport Park on Thursday night. 

The Capitals beat the Durban Super Giants by 17 runs, with Eathan Bosch showing excellent composure to concede just six runs in the final over as the home team successfully defended a total of 204/9. 

They reached that figure thanks to opener Jacks’s second T20 century, his first in this competition. The Super Giants lost wickets at regular intervals in their run chase, and despite some lusty hitting from the lower order, they eventually finished on 187/7. 

Jacks had dominated with the bat, mixing timing, power and creativity in an innings of the highest quality. Of course there were a couple of slogs, but he never lost his shape even when striking the ball with ferocious power. While there were towering blows down the ground, his best shots were a pair of lofted drives over cover off Junior Dala as Jacks expertly accessed the shorter boundary on the western side of the ground. 

There was little the Super Giants could do aside from get Jacks off strike, something they eventually managed after the power play. The home team scored 77 runs in the first six overs, but after that the Super Giants gradually pulled themselves back into the match. 

Jacks’s 101 came off only 41 balls, but having struck eight fours and nine sixes, he was dismissed off the 42nd delivery he faced, scooping a slower ball from English compatriot Reece Topley to Keshav Maharaj at point. 

That wicket came at the end of the 13th over with Jacks having propelled his team to 151, however, thereafter the visitors took control. Instead of a total of 220, a reasonable expectation, given that a scoring rate of 10 an over was needed to achieve that target, they stumbled and only just reached 200 in the final over of the innings.

The Super Giants, led by a skilful spell from Dwaine Pretorius, made effective use of changes of pace, while their lengths were also fuller, preventing the batters from getting underneath the ball. 

As a result, Pretoria scored just 53 runs in the last seven overs, which included a collapse at the back end of the innings when they lost five wickets for nine runs in 16 balls. 

Topley finished with 3/31, but each of the bowlers claimed wickets in what was an excellent conclusion for the Super Giants in the field.

Jacks’s work wasn’t done; he bowled Kyle Mayers for 11 and then claimed the crucial wicket of Heinrich Klaasen — who scored a century in the corresponding fixture last season — for one, with help from a good low catch by Corbin Bosch. Jacks also took a catch to dismiss Keemo Paul as the Super Giants struggled to forge any partnerships.

Jacks finished with 2/18, completing a stunning all-round performance, while the Capitals returning captain Wayne Parnell, along with veteran fast bowler Hardus Viljoen, also took two wickets. 

The win lifted the Capitals off the foot of the points table above their hapless provincial neighbours the Joburg Super Kings, and puts them firmly in the chase for a playoff spot.