Philip Salt owns these stellar T20I feats versus West Indies
England's Phil Salt has written his name in the history books by becoming the first-ever player to score three centuries against a single team in T20Is. He achieved the landmark in the opener of the five-game series between England and West Indies. The historic game was played at Kensington Oval in Barbados, with Salt spearheading England's batting charge. Here we look at Salt's stellar T20I record versus WI.
Three centuries against West Indies
Each of Salt's three T20I hundreds have come against WI. His maiden century came on December 16, 2023, in St George's where he scored a brilliant 109* off just 56 balls. Just three days later, on December 19, in Tarouba, he scored a stunning 119 off just 57 balls. The two tons paved the way for his record-breaking third ton against the same team (103* runs off just 54 balls).
Third-most T20I runs against WI
With his third century in 10 T20Is against West Indies, Salt has also climbed to the No. 3 spot on the list of batters with most runs in this format against them. As per ESPNcricinfo, he has scored a total of 581 runs so far, behind India's Rohit Sharma (693) and Australia's David Warner (662), against the Caribbean side.
Salt only behind these names
Five out of Salt's six 50-plus scores in this format have come against West Indies. Rohit (6), Warner (7), and India's Virat Kohli (6) are the only ones with more 50-plus scores versus WI in the shortest format. Salt equaled Babar Azam in terms of 50-plus scores against the Caribbean team. No other England batter has more than three such scores in this regard.
Highest average and second-best strike rate
Salt's average of 81 is the highest among batters with at least 1,000 T20I runs versus WI. Australia's Travis Head trails Salt in this regard with an average of 75. The England opener's strike rate of 187.41 is the second-best among players with at least 200 T20I runs against the Men in Maroon. He is only behind New Zealand's Colin Munro (190.83) in this regard.
Most runs by a visiting batter in WI
Overall, Salt has raced to 682 runs across 17 T20Is on the Caribbean soil at 56.83 with his strike rate being 179. South Africa's Quinton de Kock (524) is the only other visiting batter with 500-plus T20I runs in the Caribbean islands. Notably, Salt is yet to play a home or neutral T20I against WI.
