“There wasn’t really a message at halfway, just go out and play,” said Phil Salt. “We knew what we needed to do, it was pretty simple.” In truth it was anything but, and as they pursued a mighty target of 223 England went into the final few overs of their innings needing a miracle. Fortunately, in Harry Brook they have one.
Brook faced seven balls and scored 31, a dizzying assault that left West Indies reeling. Andre Russell was spreadeagled on the floor as the fifth ball of his final over followed the second and third into the stands to seal it. England’s bowlers might have no idea how to control their opponents’ brutal hitting but for the first time in a previously lopsided series their batters fought fire with fire, and the result was a brilliant victory, sealed by seven wickets with one ball remaining, and for the tourists a foothold in this series.
They are still 2-1 down as they head to Trinidad for the final two white-ball fixtures of their winter, but at the very least this side has postponed the postmortems. This is an imperfect team, but one still capable of striking fear into opponents. “It is a big boost and it shows our words have weight behind them,” said Salt, who played the innings of his international career to finish unbeaten with 109 off 56. “There’s no sports team in the world that is happy with losing games. It’s tough out here, we’ve been under the gun a little bit, but with the series in the balance to come out and play the way we did, I am over the moon.”
England’s run-chase started with a partnership of 115 between Salt and Jos Buttler, who scored 51, but for all their efforts the required rate was never less than daunting. Their total had reached 186 by the time Salt scored the single that took him to triple figures, but when Liam Livingstone was caught at long-on off the next ball his innings looked destined to be a footnote in another hard-luck story. At that stage they needed 37 off 13. Enter Brook, and carnage.
Only once in their history have England hit more than the 18 sixes they managed here, half of them scored by Salt. It was the only way: West Indies had blasted 16 themselves, and they continue to give England an intense education in how to bat, and how not to bowl, in these conditions. Throughout the series the tourists’ bowling has been brutalised, and they have now conceded 43 sixes in three matches – when England last came to the Caribbean they conceded 51 in five T20s, the most any opponent has managed against them in a single series, a record that is on course to be obliterated before this one concludes on Thursday.
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The West Indies innings was all the more impressive for the fact that they lost the toss and then two wickets for eight runs inside the first two overs. But Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope steadied the wobble with a partnership of 54 off 37, and alongside Rovman Powell Pooran continued and accelerated the rebuilding effort with a partnership of 58 off 32. Pooran eventually fell for 82 off 45, caught by Livingstone at deep midwicket attempting a third six in a single Adil Rashid over.
Given their opening it was a superlative innings but even so, with four overs remaining they stood on 143 for four and were on course for a moderate score. Those last four overs, bowled by Tymal Mills, Rashid, Sam Curran and Reece Topley, went for 25, 15, 21 and 18. England could have bowled Gus Atkinson but his two overs, in less pressured phases of the game, had gone for 18 and 16 and if his confidence had slumped as far as his shoulders it seemed wisest to leave him to his thoughts. Those bowlers will still be carrying their bruises, but now there is also belief.
