Phil Salt reflected on a ‘hell of an achievement’ after his 39-ball century powered England to an incredible 146-run victory over South Africa in Friday’s second T20 international at Old Trafford.
On a record-breaking night under the floodlights, Salt’s ton was his country’s quickest century in any format. His final total of 141 not out off 60 balls was England’s highest individual T20 score.
Jos Buttler smashed a trademark 83 off 30 deliveries, Jacob Bethhell added 26 and captain Harry Brook ended on 41 not out.
England’ score of 304-2 was the third best T20 total of all time and the highest involving two Test-playing nations.
And the visitors never came close to matching it, subsiding to 158 all out from 16.1 overs, with the recalled Jofra Archer claiming three for 25.
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Salt ‘really happy’ with win
Salt, who dropped a catch and made a golden duck in Wednesday’s opening game in Cardiff, admitted after the game that he never considered such a score was achievable.
He told reporters: “Honestly, no is the answer. I’ve played in some Indian Premier League games, where I feel like we’ve gone bananas all the way through, and we ended up on 270. It’s a hell of an achievement.
“It was only when Brooky came in that he mentioned it to me.
“I kept seeing the projected total coming up on the scoreboard but I thought they’d have a couple of good overs and find a way to shut us down.
“The way we played, we didn’t give them the chance to, so I’m really happy with that.”
Captain Brook ‘lost for words’
England’s victory saw them bounce back in style after Wednesday’s rain-shortened defeat and Brook was thrilled with the performance.
He said: “Pretty lost for words. The way these two (Salt and Buttler) started off was just phenomenal.
“Me and Jos were stood out there and said we never thought anyone would get 300.”
Markram hails batting ‘masterclass’
Skipper Aiden Markram top-scored for the Proteas with 41 but he admitted he had made the wrong decision after winning the toss.
He told Sky Sports: “Probably started getting it wrong from the toss, so that one’s on me.
“Two masterclasses up front from them and when you’re put under that amount of pressure it’s tough to come back.”
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