As the country is being swept by a sweltering heat wave at the moment, there was a thunderstorm in Ahmedabad last evening that swept the cricket fans off their feet and the storm was called Will Jacks. The English batter meant some serious business and he switched straightaway from the first gear to the fifth, racking up an absolute rampage in his wake.

Jacks walked out to bat when RCB lost their captain, Faf du Plessis. With the scorecard reading 40/1, Will started the innings on a pretty controlled note as Virat did the hitting at the other end. It took him eight balls to hammer his first boundary where he opened the face of the bat just in the nick of the time, edging one away from the first slip.

Following that lucky escape, the fours and the sixes completely dried up for the hard-hitting English all-rounder as he was scoring run-a-ball. It was the 11thover of the innings when Jacks decided that he had had enough and he was going after the Titans, no matter the repercussions.

The first signs of his true intentions flashed out against Mohit Sharma as Jacks launched the former over deep midwicket. A ball later, Jacks simply slapped Sharma through extra cover, a boundary that was a blazing homage to his power and precision.

Jacks was just getting started and the real storm was still to come. Sai Kishore felt the sting of the RCB all-rounder in the last ball of his over as Jacks clubbed him over long-on for a maximum. This was the clarion call for Willy J to unleash his frenzy and the rest they say was history.

Noor Ahmad foxed Jacks once with a straighter ball that eluded everyone, trickling away to the fence. But that was the last time in the game, Will would see a delivery edge past him. He followed that miscued effort with a monster of a sweep and sent the ball flying over the deep square leg fielder. 

For everyone who thought that Noor Ahmad’s over was simply a prelude to the madness to follow, they were kind of wrong. We were already there and Jacks was simply transcending his game. He whacked Mohit Sharma for 28 runs in a single over, a nod to that ruthless power-hitting flair of his. Rashid Khan suffered a similar fate, conceding four sixes and a four in the 16th over to concede the game with four overs to spare.

Rekindling memories of Ross Taylor, the man who made the leg-side his wheelhouse, Jacks played the last two overs like a beast. Anything short and it was parked outside the fence. Anything full and it went at least a couple of tiers back in the stands. Anything in his hitting arc and the boundaries were simply imaginations of the mere mortals.

Not only did he stay unbeaten but he ensured the fact that he got to his century as the winning runs that came off his bat was another ginormous strike that sailed over the deep mid-wicket region. 

Before this innings, there have always been talks about whether Jacks is really worth all the hype that surrounds him. But then as they say, it is just about one good innings and the world would just be blatant admirers of you once the show starts. Welcome to the Will Jacks Nation. Safe to say, he is simply warming up. More to follow…