After a slightly soggy stumble from the opening group stage, England’s men’s defense T20 World Cup finally came to life, with a clinical chase against a heavily fancied West Indies providing the perfect start to the Super Eight stage.
Only a win would have Jos Buttler’s side getting on the bus feeling good about life, given the battle to simply reach this point. But the manner in which it was secured would notice the rest of the field; a target of 181 rolled up with 15 balls to spare and eight wickets to spare thanks to an utterly devastating 47-ball knock of 87 not out from opener Phil Salt.
Although Jonny Bairstow would probably like a word here. The Yorkshireman has been on edge over the past week, irritated by the criticism that followed Australia’s 36-run defeat in Barbados. With England leading on 84-2 at the midway stage, his unbeaten 48 off 26 was just as key to the net run-rate boost achieved. With England’s next opponents South Africa only able to secure a tight win over the USA earlier in the day, this could yet prove critical in the final shake-up for the top two spots.
Bairstow had even threatened to overtake Salt at one stage, reaching a knock of half-century, smoking the 15th off Akeal Hosein for 16 runs to leave 40 more needed. But barring a few more singles, that was pretty much all from Bairstow as Salt, then on 49, responded by taking Romario Shepherd’s follow-up for a stunning 30 runs.
Shepard had just returned to this match after a trip to Guyana for the birth of her second child. If anything, what followed was a set-up for the messy late-night situations that would inevitably follow, Salt quickly smashing the right hand for 4, 6, 4, 6, 6, 4 – the white ball blazing in the spotlight – and dashing all hope for the hosts.
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Rovman Powell said afterwards that his side’s score of 180-4 after being bogged down in the toss was useful but always felt below par. On a spirited evening played to a pulsating Sokka beat, it was a surface on which the West Indies captain personally sent five sixes into the night sky – his side scored a total of 10 – and in doing so promised much more.
This promise was broken by Jofra Archer’s telling intervention in the 16th inscription. The West Indies were 137-2 – although Brandon King also retired injured on 23 with a side strain – and had Nicholas Pooran, fresh from an electric 98 on this pitch against Afghanistan two nights earlier, menacingly poised for 32 not out.
It was when an innings in the balance tipped in England’s favour, Archer went all the way, beating Pooran’s bat four times either side of consecutive fours before his last ball found the edge. As Liam Livingstone had just bought the wicket of Powell at a cost of 20 runs, this meant two new players at the crease for Rashid to work on.
One of them was the mighty Andre Russell, who immediately failed to fully connect with googles and drifted to Salt in the deep. On a day when England shipped 10 wickets and Mark Wood suffered a 19-run loss at the hands of Sherfane Rutherford late on, England were grateful for Rashid’s four overs of 1-21, as was Moeen Ali who destroyed hometown favorite Johnson Charles. when the opening fell to 38.
England’s chase began in calculated fashion, a strong performance of 58 runs just short of West Indies’ as Salt and Buttler looked to fend off the crafty Hossain, arm and all. In the middle of this early duel came the only chance that could have changed the final outcome, Pooran failing to get a shot from behind. When the right-hander smashed the first of his five sixes back over Russell’s head, it was salt in West Indies’ wound.
It took some smart fielding from Roston Chase to remove Buttler for 25 in the eighth over and the off-spinner spotted his progress and fired off the forehand for a simple lbw. When Moeen, promoted to No. 3 because of his left-handedness, perished trying to hook Russell in the wind on 10, a turnaround still looked possible.
Instead, Bairstow chewed gum and called out names as if it were a press conference, his powerful counter-attack setting the stage for Salt’s grand final against Rutherford. “It was great fun,” man of the match Salt said afterwards, admitting that England “needed a game like this” after those early disappointments in the tournament.