With an incredible century from Phil Salt, England defeated South Africa in the second Twenty20 International of the 2025 series, setting records and leaving cricket fans in amazement. England reached an incredible 304/2 at the legendary Old Trafford stadium as Phil Salt launched a vicious attack on the Proteas’ bowling attack. This is the first time a Test-playing country has scored more over 300 runs in a Twenty20 International.
Phil Salt’s Barnstorming Ton: A Record-Breaking Knock
A symphony of power hitting and strategic aggression characterized Phil Salt’s inning. In addition to becoming the best individual T20I score by an English hitter (141 off 60 balls), he also achieved the fastest century by an Englishman in the format, hitting triple figures in just 39 balls. Salt demonstrated his supremacy around the park with his spectacular knock, which was embellished with 15 fours and eight soaring sixes. He was the primary architect of a scorching opening combination with Jos Buttler, which set the tone for the historic innings as the two scored 126 runs in less than eight overs.
Phill Salt Scoring Areas
Salt’s ability to discover boundaries in every direction and his all-around skill set were demonstrated by his barnstorming ton. Although there isn’t a complete wagon wheel accessible, reports and match fragments show that the player was equally at ease using the field to his advantage and hitting via the ‘V’ down the ground.
Leg-Side Dominance: Salt found the holes with strength and accuracy, making it especially deadly on the leg side. With force, the short and full balls were hit for sixes and fours over square leg and deep mid-wicket.
Cutting and Slicing: Salt’s assault did not spare the off-side. He converted solid deliveries into boundaries by deftly cutting and slicing the ball through the backward point and covers.
Straight Bat Hits: Salt had comparable effectiveness with his straight bat strokes. Powerfully driving the ball down the ground, he frequently left the bowlers defenseless as the ball sped to the long-on and long-off ropes.
Phill Salt Vs Proteas Bowlers
Despite their confidence going into the game, Salt’s assault just overpowered the South African bowlers. Every member of the Proteas attack, including the pacers and spinners, found it difficult to respond to his unrelenting aggression.
Kagiso Rabada: It was a memorable day for even the premier bowler. Especially with a 23-run attack that featured two no-balls and two wides, Salt targeted Rabada’s over. Rabada’s four overs yielded an unusual 70 runs, demonstrating Salt’s capacity to unsettle the best.
Marco Jansen: Salt made a strong statement early in the game by hitting three straight boundaries off the first three balls of Marco Jansen. He set the stage for the ensuing carnage by following it up with a six.
Lizaad Williams: Since he was the most costly bowler of the innings, Lizaad Williams was also punished by Salt.
Records
Highest individual scores for England (T20I)
120* Phil Salt vs SA Manchester 2025
119 Phil Salt vs WI Tarouba 2023
116* Alex Hales vs SL Chattogram 2014
109* Phil Salt vs WI St George’s 2023
Most hundreds in T20Is
5 Glenn Maxwell (114 inngs)
5 Rohit Sharma (151 inngs)
4 Suryakumar Yadav (80 inngs)
4 Phil Salt (42 inngs)
Surya was the previous fastest to four hundreds (57 innings).
Fastest T20I 50s for England (by balls)
16 Moeen Ali vs SA Bristol 2022
17 Liam Livingstone vs Pak Nottingham 2021
18 Jos Buttler vs SA Manchester 2025
19 Phil Salt vs Pak Lahore 2022
19 Phil Salt vs SA Manchester 2025
Also Read: ENG vs SA: England Aim To Clinch Series Against Battered & Bruised South Africa