ICC T20 World Cup | Jacks of all trades helps England fight back to sink Sri Lanka

Kandy: Will Jacks impressed with bat and ball to rescue England from ⁠a poor start and help them to a 51-run victory over Sri Lanka in ⁠a low-scoring Super Eight match at the Twenty20 World Cup ‌on Sunday.

Tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka ​appeared to be well set after restricting England to a below-par 146-9 in the Group 2 match at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Jacks, who made 21 useful runs down the order, returned to claim 3-22 as England bowled out Sri Lanka for ​95 inside 17 overs to ⁠prevail.

"It encourages me to get into the game and perform better," player of the match Jacks said.

"Bowling in the powerplay is something I've done a lot of. So it's not foreign to me."

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka ⁠elected to ‌field after winning the toss and had reasons to feel vindicated as England slumped to 68-4 at the halfway mark of ‌their innings.

Jos Buttler's 14-ball struggle ended when he was trapped lbw for seven after attempting a ⁠reverse shot against spinner Dunith Wellalage only to miss a ball that rapped him on the pad.

Spinner Maheesh Theekshana dismissed ‌the in-form Jacob Bethell for three and Tom Banton perished ‌in his pursuit of a risky single, beaten by Shanaka's direct ‌throw from mid-off.

Harry Brook made 14 before Wellalage dismissed him lbw, a ‌decision the England captain challenged but could not overturn.

Phil Salt (62) raced to a 36-ball fifty but holed out in the 15th over to give Wellalage his third wicket of the ⁠match.

Jacks added late ⁠runs but England fell short of the 150-mark.

They needed a lion-hearted bowling effort and produced one to reduce Sri Lanka to 22-4 inside five overs.

Jacks dismissed Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake off successive deliveries after Jofra Archer had sent back Sri Lanka's in-form opener Pathum Nissanka.

Archer removed Kamil Mishara and Sri Lanka slumped to 34-5 after Wellalage became Jacks' third victim.

The hosts could never ​really recover and several frontline batters fell to soft dismissals.

Dushan Hemantha's bizarre ​hit-wicket dismissal for five summed up ​Sri Lanka's batting.

Shanaka made a defiant 30 but Jacks relayed a catch in the deep to remove ​the Sri Lanka captain and effectively seal England's victory.