Phil Salt’s century, Harry Brook’s cameo lead England to thrilling 7-wicket win over West Indies

St George’s (Grenada):  Opener Phil Salt smashed a maiden unbeaten T20I century, while a late cameo from young Harry Brook helped England remain alive in the five-match T20I series against the West Indies with a 2-1 scoreline after securing a thrilling seven-wicket win at the National Stadium.

Set an improbable 223 to win by the West Indies after Nicholas Pooran made a career-best score of 82 off 45 balls, Salt smashed 109 not out off just 56 balls, reaching his hundred in 51 deliveries, which he got to with consecutive sixes off Jason Holder.

He put on 115 runs for the first wicket in just 11.2 overs with captain Jos Buttler, who made 51 off 34 balls. Despite losing Buttler and Will Jacks in quick succession, Salt was helped by Liam Livingstone (30 off 18 balls), as the duo added 70 runs from 34 balls for the third wicket.

Later on, Brook smacked 24 runs off the final over against Andre Russell to be unbeaten on 31 off just seven balls and take England to an improbable win with a ball remaining, which is also their most successful chase against the West Indies in this format.

Earlier, Pooran rescued the West Indies after the hosts’ were reduced to 8/2 in the initial phase of their innings. Rovman Powell (39), Sherfane Rutherford (29) and Shai Hope (26) ensured Pooran’s attacking efforts to slam his 11th T20I fifty were well-complemented, with Holder slamming 18 not out from just five deliveries to take the West Indies to 222/6.

Adil Rashid (2/32 off four overs) and Reece Topley (1/32 off four overs) were the standout bowlers for England in a game where the batters called the shots. The total match tally was of 34 sixes, the second-most ever in a men’s T20I game after the West Indies-South Africa game in Centurion earlier this year.

The match aggregate at Grenada was of 448 runs, also the ninth-highest tally in the history of men’s T20Is. England and West Indies will now travel to Trinidad and Tobago for the final two T20Is on December 19 and 21 respectively.

Brief Scores: West Indies 222/6 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 82, Rovman Powell 39; Adil Rashid 2-32, Sam Curran 2-34) lost to England 226/3 in 19.5 overs (Phil Salt 109 not out, Jos Buttler 51; Gudakesh Motie 1-30, Andre Russell 1-50) by seven wickets

–IANS