Will Jacks scored his maiden IPL hundred as RCB defeated GT by 9 wickets
Will Jacks credited the start provided by the RCB skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli and thanked the latter for keeping up the scoring rate when he was struggling
It was a scintillating knock by Will Jacks as he stole the spotlight from Virat Kohli as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru registered a clinical victory over Gujarat Titans, chasing down 202 runs with four overs to spare. The Kiwi international struck a blistering century to score the winning runs for CSK.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, jacks credited the start provided by the RCB skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli and thanked the latter for keeping up the scoring rate when he was struggling to get going during the start of his innings.
“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,” said the RCB batter.
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The centurion also revealed the message from the dugout during the strategic time-out where they were aiming to get two big overs to complete the chase quickly. Jacks took charge as he struck both Mohit Sharma and Rashid Khan for 29 runs each in the over to help RCB register their second win on the bounce.
“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 a little bit tensed,” said the New Zealand international.
“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,” he added.
On Batting with Virat Kohli
Jacks had nothing but praise for his senior, Kohli and reckons that he will take away some of the lessons he has learned with time spent in the middle with him.
“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,” said Jacks.
The batter was particularly critical about his innings where he struggled to get going initially. However, Kohli being the team-man and having the match-awareness, took charge through that initial spell which allowed Jacks to have enough time to get set and complete the chase.
“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 of 17 is not going to win you many games. The other guys around me saved me earlier today,” Jacks concluded.
