Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably; The defending champions drilled the co-hosts with aggressive top-order batting in Gros Islet, winning with 15 balls to spare.
England 181 for 2 (Salt 87*, Bairstow 48*) beat West Indies 180 for 4 (Charles 38, Powell 36, Rashid 1-21) by eight wickets. Phil Salt’s unbeaten 87 and Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 48 helped England beat the West Indies by 8 wickets in St Lucia. Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably. It was the kind of performance that set a benchmark for the rest of the teams in the 2024 T20 World Cup Super Eight. West Indies got 72 on the board for Brandon King, who collapsed early in the fifth over with a side strain, having scored 23 off his previous 12 deliveries.
Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably.
The spin diet limited the West Indies batsmen thanks to Adil Rashid – picking out the bowlers with 1 for 21 from his four overs – and Moeen Ali, who removed Johnson Charles.
Rovman Powell, promoting himself to No. 4, took 20 from the 15th over, hitting Liam Livingstone for three sixes down the ground in four deliveries. But an effort off the fourth ball of Livingstone’s last ball brought him down, caught by Mark Wood at short third and returned to the XI in place of Chris Jordan.First, three wickets fell for six runs off just 12 balls.
Jofra Archer removed Nicholas Pooran with a catch in the next over, Andre Russell drove a googly straight from Rashid to wide long on. The salt remained, and though he slowed down, Bairstow was there to pick up the slack with a 21-ball 46 in the 16th over. Salt then returned and launched a brutal onslaught on Romario Shepherd, hitting the seamer for 30 with three fours and three sixes – West Indians’ joint costliest over in a World T20.
The first of these boundaries brought Salt’s half-century in 38 deliveries, before the rest were in jeopardy. Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably. West Indies lost half a chance to remove Salt for seven in the third over, when he hacked Puran down the line, who couldn’t hold on.
Bairstow himself clicked and salted into gear.
Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably.
Salt deserved the man of the match award. But without Bairstow’s help he – or even England – may have nothing to celebrate. Salt scored a respectable 35 off 20 balls from the powerplay. But the width of the field, teaming up with the twilers and lack of strike prevented him. Going into the 14th over, he scored another 12 off 15 balls. Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably.
That’s when Bairstow started jumping. For some reason, Powell reverted to Algeri Joseph instead of sticking with the thrifty Chase. Bairstow used the pace of the ball to send the first delivery over the deep midwicket fence – before ramping the next delivery for four – on the long side, not short. Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably.
Powell tried to correct the mistake by bringing back Akil Hossain in his last over. Bairstow, however, was in an unforgiving mood. A reverse sweep brought a subdued lbw appeal before a conventional sweep, a 76-metre six into the stands at midwicket and an improbable inside edge brought 14 in three deliveries. The 16th over was the costliest for Hussain in this World Cup.
At that time, 30 to 40 men were required, who launched an attack on the Salt Shepherd. Bairstow watched from the other end, settling into the role of cheerleader as his partner went ballistic. He eventually scored his personal best unbeaten 48 to score the winning run in the T20 World Cup. Salt and Bairstow beat West Indies comfortably. “Once Jose was out, I had to improve my batting,” Salt explained. “. As a teammate I couldn’t be happier.”