Record Breaker Salt Wants To Be World's Best

Phil Salt has group his sights connected becoming nan "best successful nan world" arsenic a T20 opener aft smashing a record-breaking period successful England's 146-run triumph complete South Africa.

The 29-year-old lit up Old Trafford pinch an unbeaten 141 disconnected 60 deliveries to not only shatter a big of individual records - astir notably reaching 3 figures disconnected conscionable 39 balls to hit Liam Livingstone's England grounds - but besides propel his broadside beyond 300 for nan first clip successful T20s.

England amassed 304-2, a grounds full successful a T20I betwixt 2 Test nations, successful a blistering show of hitting earlier bowling South Africa retired for 158 to level nan bid astatine 1-1 going into Sunday's decider successful Nottingham.

Salt was fierce from shot one, instantly dispatching Marco Jansen for a trio of boundaries, and went connected to find nan statement nary less than 23 times, including 8 sixes, successful his monster knock.

"Enjoying being location astatine nan crease for arsenic agelong arsenic you tin and conscionable a will to effect nan game, that's really I spot it," Salt said.

"I want to return games arsenic heavy arsenic imaginable while still batting astatine a precocious strike-rate. The 2 don't often spell manus successful manus but that's what I want to do arsenic a player.

"The extremity is to beryllium correct up there. I want to beryllium nan champion successful nan world astatine this."

Whether he goes connected to execute that ambition aliases not, Salt whitethorn ne'er person different nighttime rather for illustration this.

"To spell and get 140, play nan measurement he did, truthful convincingly, hardly mis-hit a ball, return nan crippled connected from shot 1 – it cleanable crippled of cricket for him," erstwhile England batter Dawid Malan told BBC Test Match Special.

Salt group a grounds aft conscionable six balls, pinch nan 18 runs he scored disconnected Jansen nan astir by an England batter successful nan first complete of a T20I.

After being deprived of nan onslaught by opening partner Jos Buttler for a while, he brought up his half-century disconnected 19 deliveries and needed conscionable 20 much to scope 3 figures.

His 39-ball 100 is nan fastest by an England player, beating Liam Livingstone's 42-ball ton against Pakistan successful 2021.

In finishing unbeaten connected 141, Salt besides collapsed his ain grounds of 119 (set versus West Indies successful 2023) for nan highest people for England men successful nan format and Danni Wyatt-Hodge's wide grounds of 124 against India successful 2018.

He has now scored 4 of England's 8 hundreds of years successful men's T20Is, pinch Livingstone, Buttler, Alex Hales and Malan contributing 1 apiece.

That moves him level pinch India's Suryakumar Yadav for profession T20I centuries, pinch Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell (five) nan only players up of him.

Salt, dismissed for a aureate duck successful Cardiff connected Wednesday, was quickly retired of nan blocks connected location turf, hitting 18 runs disconnected his first 3 balls to group nan reside for England's onslaught.

With Buttler besides successful good form, England reached 100-0 aft six overs, only 2 awkward of South Africa's 102-0 against West Indies successful 2023 - a powerplay grounds for a lucifer betwixt Test nations.

"I want to put that stamp connected [an innings]," Salt said. "In bid to sound a man retired of possession, you person to do thing they can't do.

"From early successful my career, I looked astatine that and if I tin beryllium nan astir vulnerable successful nan first 10, 15 balls of nan game, that's a unsocial tool. It's thing I've ever worked on."

While Salt's innings stole nan headlines, England skipper Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell played valuable supporting knocks while Buttler was connected people for a blistering period of his ain earlier being caught for 83 from 30.

He was nan early pace-setter successful England's innings, dominating nan first-wicket business of 126 from 47, and bringing up his half-century disconnected conscionable 18 balls successful nan 5th over.

"I can't move into Jos Buttler overnight but nan measurement he thinks astir nan game, that's what I've tapped into nan most," Salt said.

"His accordant performances complete nan people of his career, that's what I've aspired to be."

Brook hailed Salt's capacity and said his side's capacity showcased their capacity of being "the astir ascendant squad successful nan world".

"His expertise to spell retired location and deed nan first shot for 4 which is simply a risky changeable and aerial aft a aureate duck nan different nighttime sums up nan type of subordinate he is," Brook told Test Match Special.

"He is selfless and knows precisely what his domiciled is - to spell retired and look to put their bowlers nether unit shape nan get go.

"That is an utmost but it is different small snippet of really ascendant we tin be. We tin beryllium nan astir ascendant squad successful nan world going forward. If we do everything we person done tonight, location is nary logic we can't hit immoderate team."