Phil Salt's Unbeaten 87 Leads England to Dominant Eight-Wicket Victory Over West Indies in T20 World Cup

Defending champions England defeated co-hosts West Indies by eight wickets today to start their T20 World Cup Super Eights campaign. Opener Phil Salt lashed out a fiery unbeaten 87.

West Indies reached a challenging 180 for four after a flamboyant performance against Afghanistan, while England cruised to 181 for two in 17.3 overs in their Group 2 encounter.

With seven fours and five sixes in a brutal innings that took 47 balls to complete, Salt spearheaded the Three Lions' attack. Jonny Bairstow (48 not out, 26b, 5x4, 2x6) was of great assistance to the right-hander.

However, the English bowlers deserve equal credit for producing as many as 51 dot balls, of which 22 were produced by Jofra Archer (1/34) and Adil Rashid (1/21) during their clean periods following Jos Buttler's decision to bowl.

With 15 balls remaining, they won and raised their net run rate to 1.343, surpassing South Africa, who earlier on Wednesday defeated co-hosts of the tournament, the United States.

We did a great job with the bat and the ball during that performance. Although we still had to chase it down, I thought our bowling was pretty good in restricting such a strong batting lineup. England captain Jos Buttler stated, "Salt and Bairstow's partnership was great."

WI now has a negative NRR of -1.343, which could be concerning for them given that they have two games left that they absolutely must win—against South Africa and the USA.

"From a batting standpoint, we were short by 15 to 20 runs. WI captain Rovman Powell observed, "We could have shown the ball better.

Powell expressed concern over Brandon King's injury, saying, "Hopefully, he can recover in time for the next game." While navigating the hosts' spin attack in the middle overs, Salt took full use of his reprieve when Nicholas Pooran was out on seven to push the Windies spinners around with Bairstow. Together, the Englishmen milked 97 runs off 44 balls for the third wicket.

Following a quiet opening over, England erupted as Buttler hit two boundaries from Romario Sheperd to amass 12 runs.

Although Pooran's drop proved costly, Akeal Hosein created an early opportunity. Salt then started his demolition job, hitting a slower shot by Andre Russell for a six.

After hitting Alzarri Joseph for a four and a six to end the power play, the two carried on their attack, leading England to 58 for no loss in six overs—the highest powerplay total by any team against the Caribbeans in this tournament.

The breakthrough came at last when off-spinner Roston Chase saw Buttler moving forward and caught him off guard with a delivery that clocked in at 108.9 kph. He was hit hard and low by the ball on the front pad, trapping his leg before England lost two wickets in fifteen deliveries during the time.

Moeen Ali (13; 10b) was bowled out by Russell with a brilliant change of pace just when he appeared dangerous.

Salt began to slow down as well, and England needed 70 runs from 42 balls at 111/2. However, Bairstow increased the stakes by crushing Hosein and Alzarri Joseph to shift the tide.

In the following over, Buttler hit Hosein for two fours and a six after smashing Joseph for consecutive fours and sixes.

From then on, Salt dominated the match, hitting three sixes and three fours in Romario Shepherd's 16th over, which was bowled for thirty runs.

Earlier, Brandon King and Johnson Charles got the Windies off to a fantastic start. In the fifth over, the duo had the Windies cruising at 40 for no loss when they were cruelly dismissed.

King (23; 13b), who was trying to take Sam Curran down, appeared to have a side strain and had to leave the game hurt.

After Charles joined him at the crease, the in-form Pooran took them to 54 in the power play. In the eighth over, Pooran hit a leg-side six off Mark Wood, but England tightened the screws after the drinks.

That was the last boundary before the halfway point of the innings.

After a little silence, Charles hit Rashid for a six.

However, England struck in the following over when Moeen Ali removed Charles (38; 34b), who holed out to Harry Brook at long on.

After hitting a maximum against off-spinner Ali, Captain Powell blasted Liam Livingstone for three sixes in five balls during a 20-run over.

However, Livingstone emerged victorious as he claimed the vital wicket of Powell (36 off 17) with the final delivery.

In the last five overs, the English came out with some fight.

Pooran removed for 36 off 32 as Archer found the edge of his bat. After that, Rutherford controlled the strike in the final few overs to increase their total, but it proved insufficient.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.