A devastating 87 not out from Phil Salt, supplemented by 48* from Jonny Bairstow, saw England thrash West Indies by eight wickets in St Lucia. It was the kind of performance that set down a marker to the rest of the teams in the Super Eight of this T20 World Cup.
The defending champions made light work of their target of 181, with a clinical 97-run stand between Salt and Bairstow earning victory with 15 deliveries to spare.
Played out on a fine batting deck at the Daren Sammy National Stadium, Jos Buttler opted to chase after winning the toss. Things looked precarious after seven overs, with 72 on the board for the loss of just Brandon King, who collapsed with a side strain early in the fifth over, having scored 23 off his previous 12 deliveries.
A diet of spin restricted West Indies’ batters thanks to Adil Rashid – the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 21 from his four overs – and Moeen Ali, who would go on to remove Johnson Charles.
Rovman Powell promoted himself up the order to No.4. And while it did not provide immediate results, the home skipper cashed in when Buttler decided to gamble with an over from Liam Livingstone in the 15th.
Powell took 20 from the over, striking Livingstone for three sixes down the ground in four deliveries. But it was the attempt at a fourth off Livingstone’s final ball that brought his downfall, caught low at short third by Mark Wood, returning to the XI in place of Chris Jordan.
It was the first of three wickets to fall in the space of 12 deliveries for just six runs. Jofra Archer removed Nicholas Pooran caught behind in the next over, before Andre Russell nailed a Rashid googly straight to wide long on.
That West Indies were able to reach 180 without any further loss from a positon of 143 for 4 with three overs to go owes as much to Sherfane Rutherford as it does to Wood. The former was able to find 28 from 15 deliveries, 13 of them off the latter as the 18th over was taken for 19.
England’s pursuit began steadily enough, reaching 58 for no loss after six overs. Roston Chase’s flat delivery eventually ended the opening stand on 67, trapping Buttler in front, before Moeen Ali came and went, batting at No.3 for the first time since March 2023.
Salt, remained, and though he did end up slowing down, Bairstow was on hand to pick up the slack, striking 46 off 21 up to the 16th over. It was then that Salt tagged back in and unfurled a brutal attack on Romario Shepherd, striking the seamer for 30 with three fours and three sixes – the joint-most expensive over by a West Indian in a T20 World Cup.
The first of those boundaries brought up Salt’s half-century from 38 deliveries, before he skewered any remaining jeopardy. It left West Indies to rue a half chance to remove Salt on 7 in the third over, when he toed a hack across the line through to Pooran, who could not hold on.