Records shatter as Phil Salt’s carnage helps England breach 300 in 20 overs

England openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler dismantled the South African bowling attack on Friday as records were shattered with the hosts smashing 304/2 in 20 overs against South Africa in the second T20I at Old Trafford. The innings had a staggering 48 boundaries, including 30 fours and 18 sixes.

Salt carried his bat through the 20 overs to remain unbeaten on 141 off just 60 balls. His knock included 15 fours and eight sixes. Meanwhile, Buttler thrashed 83 runs from only 30 balls, including eight fours and seven sixes and was dismissed inside 10 overs. The two added 126 runs for the first wicket in just 47 balls.

Having put into bat first, England took on the bowling attack from the first ball as Salt smashed three consecutive boundaries to open the innings and ended the first over with a six.

Salt smashed his fourth T20I century in just his 45th innings, becoming the fastest to reach the milestone. He took just 39 balls to reach the milestone, making it the fastest century for an England player in T20Is as he broke Liam Livingstone’s record of 42 balls.

The total is the highest against a full member nation in T20Is and second highest by a test playing nation, only behind Zimbabwe’s 344/4 against Gambia in 2024.

Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook stepped in with cameos of 28 and 41 not out, respectively to continue England’s momentum even after Buttler’s dismissal. South Africa faltered with the bat as well and were bowled out for 158 runs in 16.1 overs, falling short by a massive margin of 146 runs as England levelled the series 1-1 head of Sunday’s decider in Nottingham. England broke their own powerplay record by smashing 100 runs inside the first six overs and managed the highest score in all T20 internationals at the 10-over mark with 166-1.

The hosts surpassed their previous best score in T20Is of 267/2 against the West Indies in 2023. They did not lif the foot of the accelerator to breach the 300-run mark with a ball to spare.

South African bowlers were hapless as four of them conceded over 50 runs. The best bowler being Kwena Maphaka with 41 runs in four overs,. Meanwhile, Bjorn Fortuin picked up both the wickets for 52 runs.

It is the most runs conceded by South Africa in T20s and ended up as their biggest loss in the format.

With the ball, Jofra Archer picked up 3/25, while Sam Curran, Liam Dawson and Will Jacks got two wickets each to propel England to the massive win.

Highest innings totals in men’s T20Is