SATV, Kathmandu, Feb. 17 - England survived a scare to qualify for the Super Eights at the T20 World Cup on Monday as Italy's swashbuckling chase of 203 fell agonisingly short in a pulsating match in Kolkata.
Will Jacks scored the fastest T20 World Cup fifty for England as they made 202-7, their highest total of the tournament so far, and eventually won by 24 runs.
Italy, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, were on track to pull off a sensational upset when Grant Stewart and Jaspreet Singh blasted 21 off Adil Rashid's final over, the 17th of the chase, including three sixes.
That left 30 needed off 21 balls, but it proved too much and Italy were all out off the last ball of the match for 178.
Most of England's batsmen got good starts earlier after Harry Brook won the toss and chose to bat.
But only Jacks capitalised as Italy kept chipping away with regular wickets. He reached his fifty off 21 balls to beat Eoin Morgan's 25-ball effort against the West Indies in Kandy in 2012.
Jacks took the game by the scruff of the neck after England stuttered to 105-5 in the 13th over.
He put on 54 in 25 balls with Sam Curran (25) for the sixth wicket and 35 in 16 balls with Jamie Overton (15) for the seventh.
His fourth six, which took him to his fifty, also saw England pass 200 for the first time in the tournament, with Jacks finishing 53 not out off 22 balls.
The win guaranteed England's passage to the Super Eights along with the already-qualified West Indies from Group C, South Africa and India.
South Africa qualifies
South Africa qualified for the T20 World Cup Super Eights on Monday without playing as Afghanistan's win over the United Arab Emirates was enough to send them through from Group D.
Azmatullah Omarzai was the hero for Afghanistan, taking 4-15 in the UAE's 160-9 and scoring an unbeaten 40 to steer his side to a five-wicket win after a tense chase in New Delhi.
Afghanistan finished on 162-5 with four balls to spare to keep alive their slim chances of moving into the next stage.
South Africa, semi-finalists in 2024, became the third team after the West Indies and co-hosts India to secure a Super Eights berth.
Afghanistan will need a big win in their last group match against Canada on Thursday and other results to go their way if they are to edge out New Zealand from second place in Group C.
"Next game, you never know, it's a T20 game, we'll have to come up with a good brand of cricket, irrespective of the chances of making it to the Super Eights," said Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan.
"We want to make the country and our people proud and happy."
New Zealand can seal their spot and eliminate Afghanistan with a win against Canada on Tuesday in Chennai.
Sohaib Khan top-scored for UAE with 68 and put on a stand of 84 for the third wicket with Alishan Sharafu, who made 40.
Medium-pace bowler Muhammad Arfan dismissed Ibrahim Zadran in the 14th over to tilt the scales in UAE's favour at 97-4, but Darwish Rasooli and Omarzai put the chase back on track with a fifth-wicket partnership of 43.
Rasooli departed for 33 in the 18th over but Omarzai kept calm and hit the winning four to give Afghanistan their first win of the tournament.
India rout Pakistan
India routed their bitter rivals Pakistan by 61 runs on Sunday to qualify for the next round of the T20 World Cup in a showdown that had been in doubt until a few days ago.
Suryakumar Yadav's side scored 175-7 after being given a flying start by Ishan Kishan's brilliant 77 and then bowled out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs.
The defeat for Pakistan continued their woeful record against India in World Cups. India have won eight of nine T20 World Cup meetings and all eight of their ODI World Cup encounters. "I think this is for India," said Suryakumar after his side followed the West Indies into the Super Eights stage. "Batting first was (the) better option on this wicket."
The off-on Group A match was only confirmed to go ahead six days ago when the Pakistan government made a U-turn on a threat to boycott the encounter. The cricket teams of the nuclear-armed neighbours only meet in multi-nation tournaments at neutral venues as part of a compromise deal. (AFP)
