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Phil Salt savoured a \u201cspecial\u201d hundred as England outmuscled West Indies to keep the five-match T20 series alive with a thrilling last-over victory in Grenada.<\/p>\n
The Windies raced to an imposing 222 for six, adding 79 in the last four overs and racking up a ground record 16 sixes but the landmark lasted just a couple of hours thanks mainly to Salt\u2019s maiden T20 ton.<\/p>\n
A sparkling 109 not out off 56 balls contained half of England\u2019s 18 maximums but the opener seemed to be feeling the effects of a sweltering afternoon as the match built to a must-watch crescendo.<\/p>\n
Needing 21 from the last over, Harry Brook hit Andre Russell for four and capitalised on the veteran missing his mark to thump three sixes and finish on 31 not out as England won with one delivery left.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been a bit shocked at times with the raw power the West Indies have,\u201d said Salt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ball is not just going 10 metres over, it\u2019s a good 30, 40, 50 metres over the fence.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you are genuinely in awe of it, they\u2019re powerful lads, they can hit balls for six that maybe I couldn\u2019t hit for six. But to out-six them, it shows that we\u2019ve got what it takes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can talk about what I did, but what Brooky did was probably more important in the context of the game, coming in with 37 needed off 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what the probability of winning would have looked like, but it was a hell of a knock and there is no more special feeling than walking off a ground in an England shirt, winning the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salt was given the benefit of the doubt on-field when he was on six after Jason Holder thudded into his pads in the second over, with technology showing the ball would have brushed leg-stump.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I saw it, I thought: that\u2019s stone dead,\u201d said Salt with a chuckle. \u201cIt was just clipping and sometimes you need that bit of luck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salt took advantage as he became just the fifth Englishman to hit a T20 century but Jos Buttler (51) and Liam Livingstone (30) made important contributions before Brook\u2019s jaw-dropping seven-ball cameo.<\/p>\n
England have had a miserable white-ball tour of the Caribbean, winning one of five matches after a group-stage exit at the World Cup, but everything is all to play for with two games in Trinidad after they equalled their second-highest T20 chase of all-time, having overhauled 223 in 2020 in Centurion.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve been under the gun a little bit but the West Indies are a hell of a side. With the series in the balance, to come out and play the way we did, I am over the moon<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a big boost and it shows our words have weight behind them,\u201d said Salt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no sports team in the world that is happy with losing games but it is tough out here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been under the gun a little bit but the West Indies are a hell of a side. With the series in the balance, to come out and play the way we did, I am over the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali and left-arm seamer Reece Topley, playing for the first time since a broken finger ended his World Cup early, went for less than 10 an over.<\/p>\n
Pacemen Tymal Mills and Gus Atkinson leaked a combined 69 in four overs as the Windies accelerated at the death, led by Nicholas Pooran\u2019s 82 off 45 balls plus Rovman Powell\u2019s 39 off 21 and Jason Holder\u2019s 18 off five.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew what we needed to do (at the halfway point of the match) it was pretty simple,\u201d added Salt, who said he was feeling his calf in the closing stages but that it was \u201cnothing too sinister\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we were going through the chase we were talking about how many we wanted to leave off the last five.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spoke in the middle about trying to leave 60 or 70. We felt that was something we could do. Maybe we left it a little bit too late, but you\u2019ve seen on these surfaces that composure is everything.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Chasing a large total) certainly narrows the mind as to what you need to do. Sometimes it can be detrimental, but I think we managed it really well here.\u201d<\/p>\n