Jacks, Brook power England to easy victory

Jacks scored an unbeaten, belligerent 44-ball 73 and Brook an unbeaten 48-ball 59 as England won by eight wickets, getting off to a great start in Group C of the 2018 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup.

Namibia had earlier set what had seemed a reasonably tricky target after posting 196/9, with solid knocks from Sam Fouche, Petrus Burger and Nicol Loftie-Eaton. Their contributions helped overcome stagnation in the middle order, but eventually, their inability to power on from that start proved costly. England, on the contrary, always seemed intent on attack. 

Savin Perera and Tom Banton added 55 runs for the first wicket, with Banton batting with intent. Their association lasted eight overs before it was broken against the run of play – Banton chopped a Gerhard Lottering delivery onto his stumps. 

In his next over, Lottering had Perera dismissed, the batsman mis-timing a pull to square leg. With the openers back in the dugout, Namibia would have hoped to peg England back, arrest the flow of runs, and build scoreboard pressure. 

Unfortunately for them, Brook and Jacks were in no mood to play the waiting game. Unperturbed by the wickets, they attacked. There was a boundary almost every over, and Namibia weren’t helped by its bowlers – 19 runs were given away in extras. The gears shifted in the 18th over, when Jacks picked three consecutive fours off Dewald Nell. Brook then targeted Fouche, before Jacks went all out against Louwrens, the Namibia captain.