Phil Salt produced another match-winning performance for England’s T20 side in Ireland but admitted he is in the dark about his prospects of earning an ODI recall.
Salt was the star of the show in the series opener in Malahide, crashing 89 off 46 balls to set up a four-wicket win for the visitors.
He pummelled four sixes and 10 fours to take the heat out of the chase, with the Irish scoring almost 10 an over to leave a target of 197. Just five days earlier, he had nailed a remarkable 141 not out against South Africa.
Salt was dropped from the 50-over squad earlier this summer, with Jamie Smith preferred at the top of the order, and he has no idea if his free-scoring exploits in the shorter format will be enough to win him another chance.
Asked if there had been any discussions over his one-day place, he said: “Not many, to be honest. I can’t say much more than that.
“I was told to go out and play a certain way, be ultra aggressive and start in fifth gear, similar to T20. It’s not always that easy in one-day cricket but I tried my best. While trying to do that, I didn’t score the weight of runs which are required in 50-over cricket to hold a place.
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Phil Salt hit a personal milestone and a new England record-fastest hundred in the first T20 international against South Africa
“While I was disappointed, I sort of understood. I nailed my colours to the mast, that’s what the team wanted of me, and it didn’t quite work out.”
Salt not thinking about milestones
Salt’s position is much clearer when it comes to the 20-over game. Of England’s eight T20 centuries, he has scored exactly half, and was within two big blows of becoming just the third batter ever to reach five.
Only India’s Rohit Sharma and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell have done so before, but Salt gave little thought to joining their exclusive club as he shaped England’s pursuit.
“It didn’t cross my mind, I just wanted to win the game and we did, so I was happy with that,” he added.
England’s Phil Salt batting against Ireland in the first T20I
An England side featuring first-time captain Jacob Bethell at number three and Rehan Ahmed at four on his first appearance of the year may well have found life difficult had the innings got off to a false start.
But a furious stand of 74 in just 28 balls between Salt and Jos Buttler went a long way to settling matters. The pair have built up a handy understanding with England, Lancashire and Manchester Originals, a long-running relationship that is paying off.
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Relive Phil Salt and Jos Buttler’s domination of South Africa in the opening overs of the second T20I
“We bounce off each other quite well. We know each other,” he said.
“I’m always the one looking to be aggressive early on, throw the first punches if you will, and Jos more often than not comes in and does his own thing. It’s a bit of a one-two. Maybe that’s something a lot of opening partnerships don’t have, two guys who can get you off to a flier early on.”
‘We didn’t have that bit of luck’
Ireland captain Paul Stirling, who set the tone for a high-scoring day with four sixes at the head of the home innings, was pleased with a competitive effort.
“To come out and score 196, we were pretty happy with. I don’t think we could have asked for much more,” he said.
“But you’ve got to do everything right in the next bit and have a bit of luck and we didn’t do that. We’ll take the six wickets and we’ll review what happened to see if we can improve on it.”