Gros Islet. England, which made it to the Super 8 of the ICC T20 World Cup at the last moment, has moved towards the semi-finals with a win. Defending champions England registered a strong 8-wicket win against hosts West Indies. England opener Phil Salt has said that the eight-wicket win over West Indies in the first match of the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage has boosted his team’s confidence and rhythm at the right time.
Host West Indies entered the Super 8 after winning all the matches in the league stage. In the battle to make it to the semi-finals against England, the team batted first and scored 180 runs for 4 wickets. The team scored a fighting score thanks to Johnson Charles’ 38 and Nicholas Pooran’s 36, but the team lost due to the average performance of the bowlers.
With the help of Salt’s unbeaten 87 runs in 47 balls, England achieved the target of 181 runs in just 17.3 overs. Salt said in the press conference after the match, “The tournament has been full of ups and downs for us so far. We lost to Australia and it rained in the match against Scotland. We have not played much cricket yet. In tournament cricket, you need confidence and rhythm at the right time. We got that by defeating the host team.”
He said that he was waiting for the right time to put pressure on the West Indies bowlers. He said, “After Jose was out, I had to play the role of architect of the innings. I was waiting for the right balls. They have excellent spin bowlers and I did not want to miss any opportunity that came my way.”
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 20, 2024, 17:32 IST