ENG vs WI, T20 World Cup: Fiery Phil Salt guides England to comfortable 8-wicket win

Co-hosts West Indies were handed their first defeat of the T20 World Cup 2024 by England on Thursday as Philip Salt’s fiery batting propelled the defending champions to an eight-wicket win in the Super 8 Group 2 contest at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet in St Lucia. The stadium at Gros Islet in St Lucia has been an exception in the ongoing tournament, producing plenty of runs. And in another high-scoring game, West Indies batted first and put up a total of 180/4.

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The chase was led by opener Salt who smashed 87 not out off 47 balls and hit five sixes, taking England past teh finish line. Jonny Bairstow made 48 off just 26. Jost Buttler (25) and Moeen Ali (13) were unable to convert the starts into big scores.

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The highlight of Salt’s knock was the 16th over when he hit Romario Shepherd for 30 runs in a single over with three fours and as many sixes.

“I like batting here, but I’m more happy to have contributed to a good team win,” Salth said after the match.

On his 30-run over against Shepherd, he said: “It was tough against spin in the middle overs, but I knew pace would come at some stage, the wind was blowing at one end, there was one short boundary and I backed myself to take him on.”

“There was a period where I didn’t face too many balls, the boundaries had dried up, but Jonny (Bairstow) took the pressure off me with his calculated hitting, his knock was very crucial,” he added.

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While the in-form West Indian bowlers had an off day, Andre Russell and Roston Chase took a wicket each.

Earlier, Brandon King (23 off 13 balls) gave West Indies a blistering start before retiring hurt due to a groin issue. Johnson Charles (38 off 34) and Nicholas Pooran (36 off 32) steadied the innings after that but failed to up the ante. And while captain Rovman Powell (36 off 17) and Shepherd (28 off 15) tried their best towards the end, the West Indies could only score 180.