WATCH: Romario Shepherd gets smashed for 30 runs from single over by Phil Salt

Home team West Indies began their Super 8 stages of the T20 World Cup with a loss to England. The defending champions broke little sweat in winning the game by 8 wickets with 2.3 overs left to play. 

Phil Salt won the Player of the Match award for his unbeaten 87 runs. The English opener caused carnage as he smashed each and every West Indian bowler to all parts of the ground in St Lucia. 

PHIL SALT SMASHED 4,6,4,6,6,4 IN ONE OVER vs SHEPHERD. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/ySm9upK73t

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 20, 2024

The English batter reserved his best punishment for Romario Shepherd by hitting him for 30 runs in the 16th over. That brutal assault left the West Indian team in utter shock as the England side assumed complete control of the game. 

Romario Shepherd taken to the cleaners by Phil Salt 

England needed 40 runs to win with 5 overs left to play and 8 wickets in hand. It was anyone’s game at that point. That is when Phil Salt decided to cut loose and put the game beyond doubt.

The right-handed batter hit the first ball for a four to bring up yet another fifty in T20I cricket. This was followed by a straight six to make it ten runs from 2 balls and 30 needed from 28 deliveries. 

Romario Shepherd bowled a slower ball, which was dispatched for yet another four to make it 14 runs from 3 balls. The next two balls saw more sixes being hit, taking the total runs in the first five balls to 26. With four runs off the last ball, the annihilation was complete as Phil Salt moved to 79, and put England within 10 runs off a win. 

Speaking at the end of the game, Phil Salt said, “I like batting here, but I'm more happy to have contributed to a good team win. It was tough against spin in the middle overs, but I knew the pace would come at some stage, the wind was blowing at one end, there was one short boundary and I backed myself to take on him. There was a period where I didn't face too many balls, and the boundaries had dried up, but Jonny Bairstow took the pressure off me with his calculated hitting, his knock was very crucial."