Following the win against the hosts West Indies in the Super 8 stage, England opening batsman Phil Salt said that it has given his side “confidence and momentum” at the right time in the T20 World Cup 2024 after a horrific run in the group stage.
Salt played a crucial role in the T20 World Cup 2024 match win against West Indies as he scored an unbeaten 87 runs in just 47 deliveries in the run chase of 181 runs.
“It`s been a very stop-start (tournament) for us. We had a hiccup against Australia and then, the rain out against Scotland. It didn`t really feel like we played much cricket up to this point,” Salt said in the post-match press meet.
“I feel in tournament cricket, you need a bit of confidence and momentum at the right time and you need to keep building on it. So, to get a win against the hosts gives us the first push in that direction,” he added.
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The stats would show that Salt made his runs at a strike rate in excess of 185, but the right-hander had to knuckle down a bit after the quick dismissals of Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali before opening up again.
Salt said that he was waiting for the right moment to attack the Caribbean bowlers. “It was more about me batting through, once Jos got out, I was always going to sort of play the anchor role, especially when we sent Moeen as the lefty”.
“I think it was about me just batting through that period and waiting for my time to strike,” he noted. The explosive batsman also showcased his batting prowess in the 16th over when he smashed 30 runs against Romario Shepherd.
The Englishmen will now face South Africa in their next Super 8 clash of the T20 World Cup 2024.
“Obviously, Shepherd coming back from that end was my time to pull the trigger. In the back of my head, I did, (visualise it) but I didn`t vocalise it to Jonny (Bairstow, his batting partner). I didn`t want him to say no.
“I feel like they`ve got such good spinners and they`ve bowled really well through the middle, so, I felt like the first sniff I got, I had to take that chance,” he added.
Salt also credited his team`s pacer Jofra Archer and spinner Adil Rashid for restricting West Indies below 200 runs.
“I think we bowled really well coming here for the first time. I think we would have definitely taken 180. We had some really good plans and we kept a few of their main guys quiet.
“So, I think from Jofra and Rash (Rashid) that`s a really experienced, skilled bit of reading the game and then the execution,” said Salt.
(With PTI Inputs)
