'No secret, just having fun' - Bevon Jacobs on racking up five T20 fifties in a row

With scores of 78*, 88*, 53, 54 and 55, Bevon Jacobs has drawn level with Devon Conway for the most consecutive fifties by a New Zealand batter in men's T20 cricket. Only Afghanistan's Sediquallah Atal (6) and India's Riyan Parag (7) have hit more half-centuries in a row in the format.

Conway smashed four successive fifties for Wellington in the Super Smash in 2021 - which was the old record - and then added another against Australia in Christchurch.

On Monday, Jacobs raised his fifth consecutive half-century off 42 balls when he drilled Jacob Duffy, the No.2-ranked T20I bowler, past extra-cover for four. Jacobs then rushed Auckland home in a chase of 160 against Volts, with three sixes in a four in his last nine balls in Dunedin.

"Yeah, it's been really nice to contribute to the season and I've been enjoying myself out there," Jacobs told the host broadcaster after winning the Player-of-the-Match award. "There's no secret to it [five fifties in a row]. I guess I've just been having fun and I guess trying to keep it as simple as possible and just doing what I can to try and get the boys over the line. Obviously, we were disappointed we couldn't do it against the Kings so it was nice that we could finish the job today."

Jacobs is regarded as one of the hardest hitters of a cricket ball in New Zealand and that skill had even earned him a surprise IPL gig with Mumbai Indians in 2025. At the time he was still uncapped at international level. Jacobs didn't find any takers for IPL 2026, but on Monday showed that he can be more than just a hard hitter and paced Auckland's chase well on a University Oval pitch where the new ball was doing a fair bit.

Jacobs, who came into bat at 32 for 3 in the fifth over, saw off the new(ish) ball and played himself in, along with Mark Chapman, before showcasing his range against the softer, older ball. Jacobs was on 20 off 22 before he swatted Jake Gibson for six over square leg. Next ball, he launched him straighter over wide long-on for six more. The quick left-arm fingerspin of Ben Lockrose and the hard lengths of Matt Bacon tied Jacobs down but he overcame those spells and provided the final flourish for Auckland.

"Yeah, 100% [wanted to be there at the finish]. I think me coming in early with Chappy, having someone with his experience is always awesome," Jacobs said. "He kept my head straight and kind of just told me, 'just bat for a bit, heaps of time out there and try and take it as deep as possible' and so we were able to build that partnership and that was really helpful in the scheme of the game."

Auckland captain Sean Solia, who played for Samoa during the New Zealand winter, was also impressed with Jacobs' form. "It's incredible and he's a really talented kid and works hard," Solia said. "So, it's no surprise that he's performing as well as he is."

With Monday's victory, Auckland drew level with Canterbury at the top of the Super Smash table on 16 points and the two will be playing each other again on Wednesday. In their first meeting of the season, Jacobs crashed an unbeaten 88 off 45 balls and forged an unbroken 171-run partnership, the highest ever for the fifth wicket in the Super Smash, but Canterbury ended up winning the game by 17 runs.

Jacobs is currently the leading run-getter in New Zealand's domestic T20 tournament with 328 from five innings at a stunning average of 109.33 and strike rate of 173.54. After his Auckland commitments, Jacobs is due to link up with Black Caps' T20I squad in India later this month for a five-match series, but was not picked in the side for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.