England’s opener Phil Salt showcased his brilliance once again by scoring his second consecutive century in the fourth T20 match against West Indies.
Supported by captain Jos Buttler, Salt’s explosive start paved the way for England to achieve their highest T20 score of 267-3. With a strong batting performance, England managed to restrict West Indies to 192, leveling the series.
England, the reigning world champions, have arranged a decisive Twenty20 series match against the West Indies following their dominant victory in the fourth game, triumphing by a staggering 75 runs on Tuesday.
Thanks to opener Phil Salt’s remarkable back-to-back century, alongside captain Jos Buttler’s exceptional leadership, England achieved their highest T20 score of 267-3, establishing an impressive foundation right from the beginning.
Buttler expressed his delight at the remarkable victory, emphasizing that such games are rare to come by. He likened the experience to being at the Hong Kong Sixes, highlighting the excitement and thrill. He also mentioned the satisfaction of heading into the final game of the tour with the series tied at 2-2.
The last and ultimate game will take place on Thursday at the identical Brian Lara Stadium.
Salt and Buttler accumulated a total of 117 runs in just 9.5 overs. Buttler’s innings came to an end when he was caught on the boundary after scoring 55 runs off 29 balls.
Meanwhile, Salt continued to excel and went on to score a remarkable century off just 48 balls, making him the first English player to achieve two T20 centuries.
Unfortunately, Salt’s brilliant innings came to an end when he was bowled by an Andre Russell yorker, resulting in a score of 119 runs. This remarkable feat made him the highest-scoring Englishman in T20 matches. Salt’s second century in three days included an impressive display of 10 sixes and seven boundaries.
England continued to dominate the West Indies bowlers, with Will Jacks scoring 24 runs off just nine deliveries and Liam Livingstone smashing an unbeaten 54 runs off 21 balls, which included four sixes and four boundaries.
Their total score of 267-3 in the match was the fifth highest in men’s T20 history.
Kyle Mayers was the only bowler who managed to concede less than nine runs per over, but he only bowled one over.
The West Indies had a rough start as Brandon King was dismissed for a golden duck, top-edging Moeen Ali’s delivery straight to Reece Topley.
Nicholas Pooran managed to score 20 runs by the end of the first over, but Ali did not bowl again as the West Indies were forced to play aggressively.
However, none of the home team’s batters could match the performance of Salt or even Buttler. When Pooran was dismissed for 39 runs off 15 balls in the fifth over, the West Indies were already three wickets down with 58 runs on the board. They lost their fourth wicket when they reached 100 runs in the seventh over.
By the end of the ninth over, the home side had also lost Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, and Jason Holder.
Andre Russell was the last batsman to be dismissed, scoring a team-high 51 runs off 25 balls. Reece Topley took three wickets, leading the bowling attack for England. The wickets were shared among Sam Curran and Rehan Ahmed, who took two wickets each.
