Eng's Salt spoils WI's taste!

Opener Phil’s quickfire 47-ball 87 (7x4, 5x6) not out helps defending champions hammer hosts West Indies by eight wickets with 15 balls to spare; skipper Jos Buttler hails team’s all-round display

Phil Salt thrashed a brilliant 87 not out off just 47 balls as defending champions England romped to an eight-wicket victory over the West Indies in their T20 World Cup Super 8 clash on Wednesday. Salt smashed seven fours and five sixes during a swashbuckling innings at the Daren Sammy National Stadium here while Jonny Bairstow hit an unbeaten 48 as England finished on 181-2 off 17.3 overs after restricting WI to 180-4. 

30 runs off 16th over

Player of the Match Salt effectively sealed victory after cutting loose in the 16th over, hammering 30 (three sixes and three fours) runs off WI’s Romario Shepherd with an exhibition of power-hitting. “We’re not looking too far ahead, just glad to contribute to the win,” Salt said after his match-winning knock. The England opener praised Bairstow, who kept the runs flowing at the other end. “There are a lot of different factors that can affect an innings. There was a period where I did not face a lot of balls, but important to stick around and carry on. Jonny was fantastic, and took pressure off me by taking calculated risks. I couldn’t be happier as a team mate,” Salt said. England’s other runs came from 25 from skipper Jos Buttler while Moeen Ali added a brisk 13.

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Jonathan Bairstow after his  26-ball 48 not out. Pics/Getty Images

“That’s a really good performance from us, we executed well with both bat and ball. We bowled really well to restrict such a powerful batting line-up, still we had to chase it down, but smart play from us. The partnership between Salt and Bairstow was great,” England skipper Jos Buttler said. Earlier, after England won the toss and opted to bowl, the West Indies made a smooth start with openers Charles and Brandon King in control. Even after King retired hurt for 23 in the fifth over, the runs continued to flow, with Johnson Charles forming a handy partnership with Nicholas Pooran. WI were 82-0 at the reached the halfway stage before England spinner Moeen Ali finally got the breakthrough. Charles was caught in the deep by Harry Brook for 38 off 34 balls in the 12th over. 

WI batters falter

WI captain Powell threatened to cut loose after blasting five sixes in a quickfire 36 off just 17 balls, but after bludgeoning Liam Livingstone for three sixes in the 15th over, top-edged one to short third man. That left the score at 137-2, and Pooran fell soon afterwards, caught behind by skipper Jos Buttler off Jofra Archer to leave the Windies wobbling on 141-3. Two runs later, Andre Russell fell for one off Adil Rashid, before an unbeaten 28 from Sherfane Rutherford gave the hosts a competitive total.

We fell 15-20 runs short: WI skipper Rovman Powell

WI skipper Rovman Powell. Pics/Getty Images

Gros Islet (St Lucia): West Indies captain Rovman Powell lamented missed opportunities and straying from their plans as his side suffered an eight-wicket defeat against England in their Super Eight match at the T20 World Cup 2024 in Gros Islet. He acknowledged that his team fell short of runs and didn’t execute their bowling plans effectively. “From a batting perspective, we left 15-20 runs out there as a batting group,” Powell said. 

“We should’ve put up a better display as a bowling group. We’re normally good in the last five overs, but credit goes to the England bowling unit. They had clear plans and executed them well.” Powell also hailed Phil Salt (87*).  “Credit has to be given to Phil, he seems to like playing against West Indies. Every time he plays against West Indies, he always hurts us. We strayed away a little bit from our plans to Phil. We must look back at those plans and re-evaluate,” said Powell.

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