England defeated the West Indies eight wickets to start their T20 World Cup Super 8s campaign; Jonny Bairstow made an unbeaten forty-six from 26 balls; Phil Salt (87 not out of 47) smashed three sixes and as many fours in the thirty-run 16th over. England’s next match is against South Africa on Friday (3.30pm UK and Ireland).

In West Indies seamer Romario Shepherd’s 30-run 16th over, Salt (87 not out off 47 balls) blasted three sixes and as many fours, helping the defending champions reach their target of 181 with 15 deliveries remaining in Gros Islet for a decisive victory.

In an uninterrupted third-wicket stand of 97 off 44 balls with Salt, Bairstow hit 48 not out off 26 deliveries. In the 15th over, he took three consecutive boundaries off left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein.

At the beginning of the 14th over, with England needing 70 from 42 balls after a West Indies comeback in the middle overs after England had reached 58-0 at the end of the powerplay through Salt and Jos Buttler (25 off 22), the Yorkshireman also hammered two consecutive boundaries off paceman Alzarri Joseph.

Prior to their match against the Proteas in Saint Lucia on Friday at 3.30 p.m. UK and Ireland, Buttler’s team leads Super 8s Group 2 on net run-rate, surpassing South Africa.

Saint Lucia’s salt stars as England sets a precedent

At the beginning of the 16th over, Salt smoked Shepherd for four runs over the covers, then went on to smash a six down the ground and uppercut a slower ball over wicketkeeper Pooran for four to finish with a 38-ball fifty.

Once he finished a run-laden over with a full toss through the off-side, the opener maintained his assault, hitting sixes over long-off and deep backward square. His team needed just 10 from 24 deliveries to win the game.

Buttler: England used their batsmanship to calculate

“I felt the performance was excellent. We had a great plan, and in my opinion, we played with great skill and earned the victory.

“We did a great job of stopping such a potent batting lineup. We were chasing a respectable score, so we had to play well to catch up, but we were really astute with the bat.

Guys were calculating when they made their decisions, and I felt that the Bairstow-Salt collaboration was excellent. Salty broke the back of the chase with that one massive over, but Bairstow came with all intent and regained the momentum.

Powell: The Caribbean should focus on the positives
Captain of the West Indies, Rovman Powell:

“I believe we batted out between fifteen and twenty runs. Though we normally dominate the final five overs, we must give the England bowling unit credit. As you can see, they executed their ideas with clarity.

“As a bowling club, we also could have presented a more impressive show. We deviated a little from our preparations, but Phil [Salt] always manages to damage us by scoring runs against the West Indies.

What comes next?

West Indies head to Barbados to play USA on Saturday (1.30am UK and Ireland), while England remains in Saint Lucia to play South Africa on Friday (3.30pm UK and Ireland).