Jacobs, the tall West Indies vice-captain, had scored only moderately in warm-up wins against Sri Lanka and Australia and failed to score in Monday's loss to South Africa.

But he rebounded emphatically yesterday with 101 off 86 balls with 11 fours and two sixes as West Indies piled up 319 and then stifled Papua New Guinea to 143 all out in just 37.1 overs for a 176-run victory at the Royal Selangor Club.

"It was a good day for me and a great day for the team. I'm happy with my performance and also delighted that some other members of the team performed well," he said.

"I was not getting any [major] scores in the previous matches, but I decided to be positive in my approach today and it worked for me. After I hit the first few balls in the middle [of the bat] I knew it was my day and I managed to cash in," added Jacobs, the Man Of The Match.

His knock made him the second century-maker of the tournament after Australia's Michael Hill.

West Indies will now face India on Friday in a match that they not only need to win, but by a handsome margin to improve their net
run-rate, as the South Africans are likely to boost their net run-rate on Thursday when they face PNG.

"We are now looking forward to the match on Friday against India. We know we have to win that match to stay in the competition. We believe in ourselves and we are confident we can do the job."

Jacobs was not the only batsman on fire on Wednesday.

Opener Kieran Powell started the innings with a bang, blazing to 60 off 35 balls with eight fours and two sixes.
(CMC)