England booked their place in the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup after edging tournament newcomers Italy by 24 runs.
Will Jacks hammered an unbeaten 53 from just 22 balls – his first T20 international half-century – as England posted 202-7 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Italy were then bowled out for 178 as Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Jamie Overton shared key wickets to seal a third victory in four matches for Brendon McCullum’s men.
Brook calls for bravery
“We haven’t played our best cricket, but we’re heading through and going to Sri Lanka,” England captain Harry Brook told Sky Sports.
“We haven’t managed to string together the scores, but we’ve got to keep being brave and taking our options on.
“We fielded excellently and we bowled nicely. We never had any doubt with Sam Curran and Jamie Overton. We’ve managed to scrape through.
“We’ve played in Sri Lanka before. We have to make sure we’ve got to be brave with the bat – that’s been our downfall.”
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Jacks wants England improvement
In his interview with Sky Sports, player of the match Jacks revealed: “We’ve spoken about keeping our intent up.
“We’ve been a bit static at times and we understood it was a very good surface.
“We know this is an incredibly fast-scoring ground. You never know batting first what is enough.”
On qualification, Jacks adds: “Doesn’t matter how you do that, but we know we have to be a lot better. Simple as that.
“We go to Sri Lanka now – different conditions and new opposition.”
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Curran warns against hesitancy
Curran also spoke to Sky Sports after the win and urged his team-mates to not be too hesitant.
“Every time we’ve looked to push on, we’ve lost a wicket, and it’s looking to get to that 20 partnership,” he said.
“I think today there’s that fine balance of looking to kick on.
“We play in Sri Lanka now, so we know their conditions. Hopefully, we can come good.”
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