Phil Salt hit six boundaries in one over to lead England to an eight-wicket win over hosts West Indies in the opening match of the T20 World Cup Super 8 in St Lucia, along with Jonny Bairstow.
Salt (87 not out off 47 balls) hit three sixes and as many fours in the 16th over of West Indies seamer Romario Shepherd’s 30-run tally as the defending champions reached their target of 181 with 15 balls remaining in Gros Islet to seal a commanding victory.
Bairstow scored a successive 97 runs off 44 balls in his third wicket stand with Salt, who made 48 not out off 26 balls and smashed three successive boundaries off left-arm spinner Akeel Hosin in the 15th over.
The Yorkshireman also hit two successive boundary hits off paceman Alzarri Joseph in the top of the 14th over. England were leading 58-0 at the end of the powerplay thanks to efforts from Salt and Jos Buttler (25 off 22) but the West Indies fought back in the middle overs and required 70 off 42 balls.
Buttler’s side currently sit top of Super 8 Group 2 on net run rate ahead of their match against the Proteas in St Lucia on Friday (3.30pm in the UK and Ireland).
Spinner Adil Rashid (1-21) was the prime candidate of England’s bowlers, conceding just two runs and dismissing the potentially dangerous Andre Russell (1) in the 17th over. Fast bowler Jofra Archer (1-34) was restricted to just four runs and dismissed Nicholas Pooran (36 off 32) in the 16th over. These overs were crucial in restricting West Indies to 180-4.
England take early lead in T20 World Cup Super 8 Group 2
Brandon King (23 off 13) shone briefly for the home team in the powerplay, smashing Reece Topley with a 101-metre maximum from deep midwicket, but was subsequently taken off with a strained side that could rule him out for the rest of the match.
West Indies, who will be rueing Pooran’s salted seven off Hosing early in the chase, next face the United States in Bridgetown, Barbados, at 1.30am on Saturday.
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30 runs in one over! Watch as Salt smashes West Indies’ Romario Shepherd for three sixes and a four in the 16th over of England’s run chase
Salt takes centre stage in St Lucia as England lift victory marker
Salt reached his fifty off 38 balls when he hit Shepherd through covers for four at the start of the 16th over, then smashed a six on the ground and uppercut a slower ball over wicketkeeper Pooran’s head for another four.
The opener continued his attack with a six over long-off and deep backward square before rounding off a run-packed over with a powerful full toss through the off side, with his team needing just 10 off 24 balls and the match all but won.
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Watch Salt smash 87 not out off 47 balls against the West Indies
Salt had dominated the opening stand with Buttler, scoring 67 runs off 46 balls, but Buttler was run out lbw by off-spinner Roston Chase and then Moeen Ali (13 off 10 balls) holed out off Russell, leaving England with just 53 runs in their 13 overs from seven innings.
But before Salt’s brilliant display, Bairstow reignited the innings.
With the ball, spinner Liam Livingstone (1-20) tapped out in his only over, getting the same out after being taken for three sixes by West Indies captain Rovman Powell (36 off 17 balls) in four balls, while paceman Mark Wood’s 18th over was taken for 19, mainly thanks to Scharfane Rutherford (28 off 15 balls).
But the home team was largely contained as top-scorer Johnson Charles (38 off 34) got going slowly and England spinners Rashid and Moane (1-15) kept the scoring rate in check.
England barely made it into the Super Eights after beating Scotland on net run rate, but now look like genuine title contenders again.
Buttler: England were calculating with the bat
England captain Jos Buttler:
“I thought it was a really good performance, we planned really well and executed it with both bat and ball so I think we deserved to win.”
England captain Jos Buttler praised Salt and Bairstow’s partnership which sealed the win.
“We were really pleased to be able to contain a strong batting line-up. The score we were chasing was still pretty high so we needed to play well to chase it down but we were very smart with our batting.”
“The players were calculated in their options and I thought the combination of Bairstow and Salty was brilliant. Bairstow came out with determination and got the momentum going and Salty thwarted the chase with those big overs.”
“They say you learn when you lose, but I believe you also learn when you win. You need to reflect on what went well, forget about it and move on to the next game.”
Salt hit three sixes and as many fours in the 16th over of England’s successful run-chase.
Powell: West Indies must take the positives
West Indies captain Rovman Powell:
“I think we left 15, 20 runs with the bat. You always do very well in the last five overs but a lot of credit goes to England’s bowling side. You could see they had a clear plan and executed it.”
“As a bowling team we could have performed better. Phil [Salt] They always seem to score runs against the West Indies and give us a hard time but I felt we deviated from the plan a little bit.
West Indies captain Rovman Powell said England’s run chase had taken their bowlers out of plan.
“We have to reassess as a batting and bowling group and pick up the positives from this match. Our fate is still in our hands so we have to play good cricket.”
Every match of the T20 World Cup will be shown live on Sky Sports, including the final in Barbados on Saturday 29 June.
What’s next?
England They are in St Lucia to take on South Africa on Friday (3.30pm in the UK and Ireland), West Indies They travel to Barbados on Saturday (1.30am in the UK and Ireland) to take on the USA.