Will Jacks shines in England's ODI victory over Sri Lanka
Harry Brook had promised “high‑octane” cricket. What he got at Chester-le-Street was something different: a grind, a scrap, and then, from Will Jacks, a performance that dragged a weary end-of-season ODI into sharp, decisive focus.
England’s 265 all out in 48.1 overs looked light on a used surface, a world away from the neck-craning hitting of the T20 sweep. Brook’s 67 under a gentle September sun was the anchor, not the explosion. Yet Sri Lanka never truly felt in the chase and folded for 176, England taking a 1-0 lead with 16.3 overs to spare and a reminder that they can still defend something under 300.
Brook steady, but no fireworks
The tone was set early. England reached 61 for one in the powerplay, Tom Banton bowled by a lovely nip-backer from Asitha Fernando, and then the pitch began to slow, grips and scuffs replacing fluency. Stroke-making turned into calculation.
Brook handled it best. He moved calmly to 67, busy rather than brutal, picking gaps, riding the lack of pace. At 182 for three, with Joe Root and Jos Buttler already banked and the captain set, 300 looked on. Then came the wobble.
Brook, having looked almost immovable, chose the wrong moment to go aerial. Charging Dushmantha Chameera for one of his trademark inside-out hits, he skewed a catch to deep point. It was a rare attempt to clear the rope in what became England’s first ODI innings in more than seven years without a six. The dismissal ripped the stuffing out of the innings.
From 182 for three, England slumped to 211 for seven. Four wickets fell for 29 runs in 46 balls. Buttler had already gone for 31, trapped lbw by Sachindu Colombage. Rehan Ahmed was then run out by a sharp direct hit from Charith Asalanka after setting off for a single that never existed, hesitating, then almost surrendering to his fate. The strike rotation Kevin Pietersen had demanded as England’s new mentor was nowhere to be seen.
Root’s earlier dismissal had been a jolt in itself. Colombage, the 28-year-old wrist-spinner with the jerky action plucked from club cricket at Downham Stow and an unremarkable domestic record, drifted and dipped the ball beautifully. Root, on 44 and in that familiar one-day groove, was beaten on the back foot and heard his off stump rattled. Buttler followed, pinned by one that straightened. Later, Jamie Overton was bowled by a leg-break that climbed above his eyeline and ripped back. Colombage walked off with three for 44 and the feeling that Sri Lanka had unearthed something.
At halfway, WinViz had Sri Lanka as marginal favourites. The numbers said one thing. The surface and the mood hinted at another.
Jacks rescues, then destroys
The reason England had “plenty” was Jacks. Batting at seven, in a role he has had to learn after a career spent at the top of the order, he walked in amid the collapse and refused to panic. His unbeaten 46 from the lower middle order, including 18 precious runs off the 48th over, was the difference between Sri Lanka chasing a comfortable total and something awkward.
Since being pushed down the order last year, Jacks has quietly become a serious ODI presence: averaging 43 and scoring at better than a run a ball in that slot. This was another piece of evidence. With minimal support beyond Gus Atkinson, he steered England from potential embarrassment to something defendable.
His real statement came with the ball.
Brook turned to his new vice-captain not as a part-timer, but as a frontline option. Jacks responded with 5 for 22 from seven overs, the second-best ODI figures by an England spinner after Vic Marks’s 5 for 20 in Wellington in 1984. He varied pace, changed angles, and used the rough expertly. Sri Lanka never escaped his grip.
He picked off batters through the middle, repeatedly punching holes in the chase. The key scalp was Dunith Wellalage, top-scorer with 45, beaten as Jacks tightened the screw. By the time he produced a ripping delivery to bowl No 11 Dilshan Madushanka and seal his first five-wicket haul, the game had long gone.
Brook, who now has 11 wins and 10 defeats as ODI captain, praised Jacks as a “very good off-spinner” and a “very vital player”. The evidence was all over the scoreboard. Jacks has accepted the all-rounder brief, thrown himself into it, and on this day, owned it.
England’s attack holds firm
Around him, the rest of England’s attack did their job. Jofra Archer, at the end of his all-format summer, went for a few late runs but still cranked up the pace and discomfort. Jamie Overton, banging cross-seamers into the surface, picked up two wickets and kept Sri Lanka honest. The absence of Adil Rashid, out of the series with a hand injury, barely registered in the control England exerted.
This was the first time since 2022 that England had successfully defended a total under 300 in ODIs. On a tired pitch and with a modest score, they squeezed, probed and waited for mistakes. Sri Lanka, never fully at ease after losing the toss, obliged.
Root’s astonishing run of ODI security finally ended here – his dismissal after 416 balls and 404 runs without being out in the format stretching back to last winter’s series win in Sri Lanka. Brook’s own resurgence as a 50-over leader continued. But the day belonged to Jacks.
He finished it with bat raised, ball in hand, and his fingerprints all over a win that was anything but high-octane, yet no less important as England edge towards another World Cup cycle. If this is what their “quiet” days look like, what happens when the volume really goes up?
