Phil Salt believes England have at last seized some momentum after putting their “topsy-turvy” start to the T20 World Cup aside with a dominant win over West Indies overnight.
Salt made a destructive, unbeaten 87 from 47 balls, while Jonny Bairstow finished 48 not out from 26 as the defending champions romped to an eight-wicket victory with 15 balls to spare in St Lucia.
England only snuck out of the initial group stage on net run-rate, having been washed out against Scotland and well beaten by Australia, before thumping wins over minnows Oman and Namibia kept their title defence alive.
However, their Super 8 campaign is off to a flier, with games against the USA and South Africa to come in the push for a semi-final place.
“To come to here and play like that against a very strong side, who are riding a wave in their own conditions, with a home crowd, is a great feeling,” said Salt, with West Indies having hammered Afghanistan by 104 runs on the same ground this week.
“It’s been very stop-start for us. We had a hiccup against Australia and a rain out against Scotland, a really topsy-turvy start, and it didn’t feel like we’d played that much cricket to this point.
“But in tournament cricket you need confidence and momentum at the right time. To get a win against the hosts gives us a first push in that direction.”
After West Indies compiled 180 for four from their 20 overs, Salt and captain Jos Buttler laid on a 67-run opening stand to give England a solid start to the chase. While their scoring slowed, Salt effectively ended the contest when taking Romario Shepherd’s 16th over for 30 runs.
“That was my time to pull the trigger,” he said. “In my head I’d decided, but I didn’t vocalise it to Jonny because I didn’t want him to say ‘no’.
“I knew if I could just get through that period, then we’d be in good position and I could have a good dip at one of the seamers. The first sniff I got, I had to take that chance.”
