Will Jacks, on Sunday (April 28), smashed a century for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He smacked an unbeaten 41-ball 100 as RCB chased down 201 runs in just 16 overs by losing only a wicket as well. However, he joined Virat Kohli in the middle in the fourth over after Sai Kishore dismissed Faf du Plessis as well.
He started cautiously and was batting on 16 off 16 at one stage. At the end of the 14th over, he was batting on 44 off 29 balls before completing his century in the next two overs as well. In the 15th over, he hit Mohit Sharma for two fours and three sixes to reach 72. In the 16th over, he took on Rashid Khan, hitting him for four sixes and a four to complete his century with the last shot of the match as well.
After the match-winning century, Will Jacks received a hero’s welcome in the RCB dressing room from his teammates and the coaches. After that, he and Virat Kohli had an interesting interaction. Kohli, who remained unbeaten on 70, shared Jacks’ batting exploits before saying that he was initially not happy after failing to hit the first ball of the 16th over for a six as well. On that delivery, Virat Kohli took a single to give Jacks the strike before he completed his century as well.
“You got your next fifty in 10 balls. 31 first 50 and then 41 hundred. Second half was your day off at the golf course. I was pissed off I didn’t smash the first ball for six. But when you hit one at 94, I was like thank god,” said Kohli. “He called for two and when he looked back I was ready for three. And he decided, I have to hit every ball for six now because I am not running anymore. That was the secret.” said Kohli.
The Virat and Jacks Show (off the field)
Dressing Room hasn’t been happier this season and this is exactly the content our 12th Man Army would love to see. ❤️🥹
So why wait for 9 am tomorrow? 😁#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2024 #GTvRCB pic.twitter.com/ipy9a3RbmN
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 28, 2024
After the game, Will Jacks, the Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: “Amazing feeling right now. Faf and Virat got us off to a very good start. I struggled early on, but Virat kept his intensity up and gave me the chance to find my rhythm. Once we had the time-out, we said, “let’s get two really good overs here and we win the game.” Once that happened, I just kept going and amazing feeling right now. I was trying to be positive (against spin early on), was just struggling. I was trying to overhit the ball, probably little bit tensed. Once I got one away off Mohit, I relaxed, got into my innings and then just trusted myself.
Next game, hopefully I do that earlier. (Batting with Kohli) It’s amazing, he’s a legend of the game and is someone everyone looks up to. To spend some time in the middle is a great feeling a huge learning curve. When I go away from the IPL, I’ll learn so much from batting with him and playing with him. I’ll try to take it all on board. I need to be a bit more adaptable at the beginning of my innings and get myself in a little bit quicker. I was lucky today because 17 off 17 is not going to win you many games. The other guys around me saved me earlier today.”
