BRIDGETOWN (Barbados): Wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt’s unbeaten ton stormed England to victory over West Indies by 8 wickets in the first T20I of the five-match series at the Kensington Oval on Sunday.
Salt was awarded the Player of the Match award following his unbeaten 103-run knock off just 54 balls laced with nine boundaries and six maximums in his innings. The right-hand batter slammed runs at a strike rate of 190.74.
Chasing a total of 183 runs, Openers Salt and Will Jacks came out in the middle for the visitors.
Both batters started off their innings with positive intent and attacked the opponent bowlers. Both the players completed their 50-run partnership on the last ball of the fourth over as Salt smashed a boundary on the bowling of right-arm seamer Shamar Joseph.
In the sixth over, Salt completed his fifty in just 25 balls as the batter smacked a maximum on left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie’s ball.
In the same over, England lost their first wicket at the score of 73 as Jacks was sent back to the pavilion after scoring just 17 runs from 10 balls with the help of two sixes.
The Three Lions skipper Jos Buttler was the next one to fall who went back to the dressing room on the first ball he faced on his comeback.
Following Buttler’s departure, debutant Jacob Bethell came out in the middle to bat along with Salt.
The Jos Buttler-led side completed the 100-run mark in the 10th over of the innings.
In the 13th over, Salt and Bethell completed their 50-run partnership as the latter hit a boundary on the fourth ball of the over. In the 15th over, the English side touched the 150-run mark. In the next over, Bethell completed his half-century.
Salt and Bethell completed their 100-run partnership on the first ball of the 17th over. This was the same ball on which Salt completed his century.
England went on to with the match with 3.5 overs remaining in the innings. Both the players built an unbeaten partnership 107 runs in 61 balls.
Bethell played an unbeaten knock off 58 runs in 36 balls with the help of five boundaries and two sixes in his innings. For the hosts, one wicket each was taken by Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd in their respective spells. Earlier in the match, Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Batting first, the Rovaman Powell-led side scored 182/9 in 20 overs with knocks from Nicholas Pooran (38 runs off 29 balls with two fours and three sixes), Romario Shepherd (35* runs from 22 balls with three fours and two sixes), Gudakesh Motie (33 runs in 14 balls with four boundaries and two sixes) and Andre Russell (30 runs off 17 balls with four sixes).
For England, the pick of the bowler was right-arm seamer, Saqib Mahmood who snapped four wickets in his spell of 4 overs where he conceded 34 runs. Three wickets were grabbed by leg spinner Adil Rashid in his four overs where he gave away 32 runs. One wicket each was bagged by Jamie Overton and Liam Livingston in their respective spells.
Brief Score: England 183 for 2 in 16.5 overs (Phil Salt 103*, Jacob Bethell 58*, Gudakesh Motie 1/45) beat West Indies 182 for 9 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 38, Romario Shepherd 35*, Saqib Mahmood 4/34) by eight wickets. (ANI)