Phil Salt smashed his fourth T20I century as England became only the third team to mount 300 runs in an innings in T20Is against South Africa in the second game of the three-match series. Salt and Buttler’s opening partnership of 126 off just 47 balls set the early tone for a big total.
England came out all guns blazing in the second T20I of the three-match series against South Africa at Old Trafford in Manchester on Friday, September 12 as the hosts went on to post a monstrous total of 304 runs on the board, the third highest in men’s T20I history. England rode on Phil Salt’s fourth T20I century to shatter records for fun and so did the destructive opener, on way to the fastest ton in the format by an Englishman.
Salt began the carnage by hitting 18 runs off the first over of the innings before his opening partner Jos Buttler assumed the control to hit an 18-ball fifty. Buttler was seeing the ball like a football and looked on course of a well-deserved century but Bjorn Fortuin cut his knock short on 83 for which he took just 30 balls. Buttler passed on the baton before walking back to Salt and the 29-year-old ran with the game single-handedly.
Salt broke Liam Livingstone’s record for the fastest century by an Englishman, while becoming only the fourth batter in T20I history to score four or more centuries, equalling Suryakumar Yadav’s record in the format. The opening batter just kept going on, while getting the perfect finishing support from captain Harry Brook to end his innings on 141* off just 60 balls.
Most centuries in T20Isย
5 – Glenn Maxwell (Australia), in 114 inningsย
5 – Rohit Sharma (India), in 151 inningsย
4 – Phil Salt (England), in 42 innings
4 – Suryakumar Yadav (India), in 80 inningsย
Fastest century in T20Is for England (in balls)
39 – Phil Salt (vs SA) – Manchester, 2025
42 – Liam Livingstone (vs PAK) – Nottingham, 2021
48 – Dawid Malan (vs NZ) – Napier, 2019
48 – Phil Salt (vs WI) – Tarouba, 2023
Salt’s unbeaten 141 ws the seventh highest individual score in T20Is and the highest for England as he broke his own record of 119. South Africa’s bowling attack marred with injuries to Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj looked undercooked with all three of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Lizaad Williams returning from injuries. South Africa had begun well but 305 was always going to be bridge too far.