Will Jacks stars as Surrey ease past Kent to seal first Vitality Blast Finals Day berth for six years

Match-winner: Will Jacks starred with the ball as Surrey brushed aside Kent at the Kia Oval on Thursday
Getty Images for Surrey CCC
Will Macpherson1 October 2020

As Surrey won seven games on the spin to qualify for the Vitality Blast quarter-finals, Will Jacks was a regular match-winner with the bat.

In that quarter-final, Jacks turned match-winner with the ball, dismissing all of Kent’s vaunted top four in a spell of four overs for 15 to carry Surrey to Finals Day for the first time since 2014.

They will face Gloucestershire, who saw off Northamptonshire for a place at Finals Day. The other semi-final will see Lancashire, who beat Sussex, play Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire.

Surrey ended up winning at a canter, by 56 runs, and now have a shot at a first T20 title since the competition’s inaugural campaign in 2003.

Defending 169 – a decent score on a used pitch with big boundaries that they will feel could have been more after a fine start – Jacks and Surrey’s other two spinners, Daniel Moriarty and Gareth Batty, immediately got to work.

In his first over, Jacks dismissed the tournament’s leading run-scorer Daniel Bell-Drummond and England’s Zak Crawley, both caught by Ben Foakes. The wicketkeeper caught the sweeping Bell-Drummond diving forward down the legside, while Crawley was looking to cut.

Kent’s senior men Joe Denly and Sam Billings staged a bit of a fightback, hitting a six each, but Jacks dismissed both in his second spell. Denly was caught in the deep by Jamie Overton then Billings – who had been dropped on 17 – was bowled.

When Moriarty, whose four overs cost just 24 runs, had Alex Blake caught slogging, Kent were cooked. Batty dismissed Grant Stewart and Jack Leaning kept fighting, until he was caught brilliantly by the juggling Rory Burns on the bench. Moriarty, Jacks and Batty shared figures of 12-0-60-6.

By then, Jacks had already made a very handy 23 off 18 balls as he was recast as Surrey’s finisher from no4.

Surrey duo Hashim Amla and Jason Roy both hit half-centuries in a partnership of 114
Getty Images for Surrey CCC

Surrey went for the experience of Jason Roy and Hashim Amla at the top of the order, with both men making half-centuries while putting on 114 from 12.5 overs.

Roy made 56 from 42 balls, drilling eight boundaries, before holing out to long-on off Imran Qayyum, then Laurie Evans fell in identical fashion an over later.

The ball before Roy was dismissed, Billings was convinced he had been run out – for the second time in the innings – leading to an exchange of words with the umpires.

Billings revealed that he had been charged with a Level One breach, meaning he received a warning from the ECB.

That stalled Surrey’s progress but Jacks joined Amla to add 44 in the final five overs. 169 was not the total they might have been eyeing earlier, but it proved much more than enough.

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