"Rub Salt into the hosts' wound" - X reacts to Phil Salt's 87* off 47 in WI vs ENG 2024 T20 World Cup Super 8 game
Phil Salt's sensational assault helped England decimate the West Indies in their first Super 8 game of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday (June 20). He slammed 87* off 47 with the help of seven fours and five sixes to set the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium alight.
In pursuit of 181, openers Jos Buttler and Salt provided England with an impressive start. They added 67 runs before Buttler (25) was dismissed in the eighth over. Although Moeen Ali (13) started well, he was holed out in the 11th over.
However, Salt and Jonny Bairstow were confident with their strokeplay to steer the English side comfortably. Bairstow's attacking mindset injected confidence into Salt, who went all guns blazing in the 16th over. The 27-year-old took 30 runs from Romario Shepherd's over, while hitting three sixes and as many fours.
As a result, the defending champions made a strong statement by sealing the chase with 15 balls to spare. Bairstow scored 48* off 26 balls and stitched together an unbeaten 97-run stand with Salt.
Interestingly, Salt now has the most runs in WI vs ENG T20Is with 478 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 186.71, with two fifties and as many centuries.
Here's how the fans reacted to Phil Salt's innings on X:
Here are the other reactions:
"Simply Phil Salt at his best ... continuing his IPL purple patch 💥💜," one fan commented.
"Ohh ENG makes my words or prediction wrong !!! Very good batting by Phil Salt..And important knock by Jonny Bairstow at right & crucial time...I thought WI had a home advantage but no still we have right unpredictable WC.. So Let's wait for WI vs USA match," a fan posted.
"Biggest strength of Phil Salt is that he is ruthless against mediocre bowlers. He picks the weakest bowler of opposition and go all out against him. Shepherd was victim today," another enthusiast posted.
T20 World Cup: West Indies set a par total before Phil Salt's assault
After being asked to bat first, the Windies started strongly, courtesy of their openers Brandon King and Johnson Charles. However, the co-hosts' momentum was halted after King (23) was retired hurt.
Johnson Charles (38 off 34) and Nicholas Pooran (36 off 32) did not accelerate enough after the powerplay overs. However, skipper Rovman Powell (36 off 17) steered the team with his positive intent. Although Andre Russell (1) failed, Romario Shepherd (28* off 15) provided a fine flourish to help West Indies post 180 on the board.
All last three matches at this venue saw teams scoring 180-plus in the first innings, with West Indies themselves scoring 218 against Afghanistan. As a result, it could not prove to be a defendable total, as Phil Salt and Jonny Bairstow were impactful with their knocks to finish the chase early for England.