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Oh the love affair between Phil Salt and the West Indies! Three hundreds, a 38 and an 87* in his last five outings in T20Is against the Men in Maroon - all in the Caribbean at that - have headlined his dominance and a solid reputation as one of the premier T20 batters on the planet at present.
A blistering hundred in Barbados powered England to a series lead as Salt turned it on in grand fashion against the hosts. There's little time to recover for either team though as the second match comes calling the very following day before the party moves to St. Lucia.
England have found life in the West Indies challenging in the last few years having last won a series here in any format in 2019. This is the third time in as many years that England are playing a bilateral T20 rubber in the Caribbean and having lost the previous two series in 2022 and 2023, they are primed to better that result now having gone 1-0 up.
But if there is a format that the West Indies thrive upon, it is T20 cricket. One defeat must not rattle them and most certainly not after the fight they showed despite being reduced to 117-8 with the bat as Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd unleashed a couple of invaluable cameos to give themselves a competitive total.
The way Salt tore into the bowlers though, there was nowhere to hide as a bowler. Ably assisted by Jacob Bethell's maiden T20I half-century, England romped home with plenty of deliveries to spare as they barely broke a sweat on a good batting surface. The way they are bound to approach this format is a no-brainer and with match-winners aplenty in the form of Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone and skipper Jos Buttler to go with Salt, their batting lineup certainly looks intimidating.
What they will be after though is consistency - something that has been amiss for a while now. Another dominating performance on Sunday could instill belief that they are on track to correct that trend. Buttler, who made a comeback after a long injury layoff, was dismissed first ball on Saturday although he would count himself unfortunate with Motie plucking a screamer at deep third man. If he gets into the act, the West Indies will have reasons to worry about.
Reece Topley suffered an injury setback though as he hobbled off the field. A straight swap with Jofra Archer is likely with the Barbados-born speedster having been rested for the opener. Barring that, any other change seems unlikely with Dan Mousley and Jamie Overton keen to capitalize on their opportunities and Saqib Mahmood looking to build on his four-wicket burst last evening.
West Indies brim with match-winners aplenty themselves as you'd expect. Besides the surge that the lower order provided, what was a sight was the manner in which Nicholas Pooran and skipper Rovman Powell launched a counter-attack in the powerplay despite reeling at 23/3. Mahmood was impeccable with the new ball as he sent Brandon King, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer packing cheaply. The troika of batters, as well as Sherfane Rutherford, will look to start afresh on Sunday and put their best foot forward with Powell also on the lookout for a big score.
The absence of a wrist-spinner is telling as far as the hosts' bowling is concerned. But it is what it is and in Motie and Akeal Hosein, they have two top quality finger spinners in their ranks who are capable of getting the job done. Alzarri Joseph will miss this contest too owing to a suspension but there could just be a chance for Matthew Forde with the West Indies in need of new ball wickets. Shamar Joseph, who was taken to the cleaners on Saturday, could be the casualty in that case.
Momentum is firmly with England. But T20 is such a fickle format that nothing can be said with certainty. And if there's a team that knows how to brush a bad day in the office aside in this format and bounce back, it is the West Indies.
Plenty of fireworks headline a T20 match between these two sides. Expect nothing short of the same again in what should be another cracking weekend contest!
West Indies Probable XI: Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie
England Probable XI: Phil Salt (wk), Will Jacks, Jos Buttler (c), Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood