Will Jacks gave a timely reminder of his destructive batting capabilities to England’s selectors with a stunning 41-ball unbeaten hundred in the Indian Premier League.
England name a provisional 15 for the T20 World Cup in June on Tuesday and it is expected Jacks will be included, although he did his prospects no harm to inspire Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory at the cavernous Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Set 201 to beat Gujarat Titans, Jacks initially played second fiddle to Virat Kohli as he cruised along at a run-a-ball 17 before hitting the first of his 10 sixes to ignite his charge.
He took 29 in a Mohit Sharma over and, after Kohli brought up 500 runs in the IPL this year to finish on 70 not out, Jacks took Rashid Khan apart as RCB won with nine wickets and four overs to spare.
The vaunted leg-spinner was bludgeoned for one four and four sixes in the space of five balls, with Jacks' final maximum bringing up 100 exactly and carrying his side past their victory target.
Jacks is the third England batter to register a three-figure score in a run-heavy IPL season, with Jos Buttler amassing two tons for Rajasthan Royals while Jonny Bairstow cast off a lean run this winter with 108 not out for Punjab Kings on Friday.
