“Every time he plays against WI, he hurts us" - Rovman Powell on Phil Salt's match-winning knock in WI vs ENG 2024 T20 World Cup clash
West Indies skipper Rovman Powell spoke about Phil Salt's exceptional knock in their 2024 T20 World Cup Super 8 encounter against England. The opening batter scored an unbeaten 87 runs off 47 runs to help his side chase down the 181-run target in 17.3 overs in St.Lucia.
Salt held the innings together in the run chase and then exploded towards the end. His carnage included a 30-run over off Romario Shepherd's bowling, and his knock was studded with seven fours and five sixes.
West Indies, unfortunately, are not strangers to being on the wrong end of Phil Salt's trademark destruction. Six months earlier, the right-handed batter was the Player of the Series when the Windies hosted England for a five-match T20I series. Salt had scored 331 runs, which included successive hundreds.
"It's always difficult, every time he plays against WI, he hurts us. We couldn't execute our plans against Phil. Our destiny is in our own hands and we need to win well, we need to continue playing good cricket," Rovman Powell said during the post-match presentation.
Interestingly, Salt had also made his T20I debut against the West Indies. He scored 57 runs off 24 deliveries on that occasion in Barbados a couple of years ago but followed it up with a golden duck.
Before the World Cup clash, Salt had faced the West Indies eight times in the shortest format, amassing 391 runs at an average of 55.86 at a strike rate of 187.08.
"We were 15-20 runs short" - Rovman Powell on the wake-up call defeat against England
West Indies were on a hot streak of eight successive wins before stumbling against England. They were comfortably placed at 137-1 after 15 overs, but could not have a say in the death overs.
Even on the bowling front, they lacked potency, and even their reliable spin duo of Gudakesh Motie and Akeal Hosein were taken down.
"When you look from the batting perspective, we were 15-20 runs short. We could have given a better display with the ball as a bowling group. We couldn't capitalise in the last five overs but credit to the English bowlers, they executed their plans very well," Powell added in the post-match presentation.
West Indies are next scheduled to face the United States of America (USA) in a crucial contest in Barbados on Friday, June 21.