Will Jacks cracked his maiden Vitality Blast century to earn Surrey a home quarter-final date against Northamptonshire.

He crashed 12 fours and three sixes in making 100 from 59 balls against Sussex at Hove on Friday, an 11th victory from 14 outings ensuring top spot in South Group.

Surrey were already guaranteed a home date in the last eight when they went into the final two matches, tight wins against Middlesex and then Sussex maintaining their momentum to finish ahead of Somerset. Now they must wait until September 3 for the quarter-final – after the Hundred has been staged – and are likely to be without Jacks, who will almost certainly be involved in England’s ODI series against South Africa.

That will be a considerable blow as his 504 runs – despite missing the opening four matches on international duty – make him easily the county’s leading scorer.

Jacks hit 54 in Wednesday’s victory by eight runs over Middlesex at Lord’s, Tom Curran’s 47 driving the visitors to 189 for nine. Ryan Higgins claimed four for 33.

The hosts were looking good bets for a rare victory through opener Steve Eskinazi’s 53 and Leus de Plooy (29) but a brilliant if controversial run out of the latter by substitute fielder Adam Thomas – underlining their superiority in the field – proved crucial.

Despite Jacks’ century leading Surrey to 204 for five at Hove two days later, they were in trouble when Sussex reached 170 for two in the 17th over. But Sam Curran’s four for 18 turned the match, the T20 skipper commenting: “I’m really pleased to end that way – we really wanted to finish top of the group. I thought Will Jacks was really special with his hundred – the pitch wasn’t too easy but he used his head before going ballistic at the end.”

Surrey are engaged in a Rothesay County Championship first division clash with Yorkshire at Scarborough this week, then move on to play Durham at Chester-le-Street from next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, their plans to freshen a mature squad took further shape with the signing of Nikhil Gorantla last week.

The 23-year-old is the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to join Surrey, having impressed recently for the second team, not least making 76 against Derbyshire in a narrow victory, and in matches for other counties.

Gorantla was born in Cambridge – as were Surrey greats Tom Hayward and Sir Jack Hobbs – and played for his native county before joining Essex’s age group system. He recently graduated from Durham University with a degree in chemistry and has benefited from the reforming of MCC’s Young Professionals, as well as SACA.

Alec Stewart, whose current role as high performance cricket advisor includes planning for the future, commented: “Nik has earned his opportunity after impressing in the second team this year, not just with us but other clubs.

“Not every journey to a professional contract is seamless. Nik is a shining example of how hard work and patience can be rewarded.”

Gorantla added: “I’d particularly like to thank the South Asian Cricket Academy for keeping me in the professional mix over recent years. The work they continue to do for young cricketers is phenomenal.”

Thomas was called up by England under-19s for this week’s second Test against India at Chelmsford, joining county colleagues Alex French and Ralphie Albert.

By Richard Spiller