Fastest T20I half-centuries by Englishmen: It felt as if the pitch at the Old Trafford ground in Manchester for Friday night’s England vs South Africa T20I was made by road contractors and not pitch curators.
The England batsmen batted with extreme ferocity, and no Protea bowler was spared as Phil Salt and Jos Buttler and then Jacob Bethell mercilessly laid into the hosts’ bowling attack.
During England’s innings, while Buttler missed out on his second T20I century by 17 runs, Salt made sure to make hay on a flat track and converted his rapid start into a monstrous century.
This was Salt’s fourth T20I century, and he joined an elite list with this knock while also breaking a huge T20I record of India’s T20I skipper, Suryakumar Yadav.
With four centuries, Salt has the joint second-most T20I hundreds, equaled at the second spot with Suryakumar. The top spot belongs to Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell, as both have five T20I centuries each.
Most hundreds in T20Is:
- Glenn Maxwell – 5
- Rohit Sharma – 5
- Phil Salt – 4
- Suryakumar Yadav – 4
Phil Salt breaks Suryakumar Yadav’s T20I world record:
Salt brought up his fourth T20I century in just his 42nd innings, becoming the fastest batsman to hit four T20I hundreds. This record previously belonged to Suryakumar, who notched up his fourth T20I ton in his 57th innings.
Rohit Sharma had taken 79 innings and Glenn Maxwell needed 92 innings to reach four T20I hundreds.
Fastest to four T20I centuries (innings):
- Phil Salt – 42 innings
- Suryakumar Yadav – 57 innings
- Rohit Sharma – 79 innings
- Glenn Maxwell – 92 innings
Earlier in the innings, Buttler and Salt powered England to their highest-ever powerplay total. After the completion of the powerplay, England were 100/0, the first time they have reached a hundred runs in the powerplay. Their previous highest powerplay score in T20Is was 89, which also came against South Africa during their clash in the 2016 T20 World Cup in Mumbai.
Further, England were 166/1 at the 10-over mark, which is now the highest score in T20I at the midpoint of an innings.
The deadly opening duo also propelled themselves into the top five fastest T20I fifties for England—Buttler reached it in 18 balls and Salt in 19 balls, becoming the third-fastest and fifth-fastest for their nation.
Fastest T20I half-centuries by England batsman:
16 balls – Moeen Ali vs South Africa, Bristol, 2022
17 balls – Liam Livingstone vs Pakistan, Nottingham, 2021
18 balls – Jos Buttler vs South Africa, Manchester, 2025
19 balls – Phil Salt vs Pakistan, Lahore, 2022
19 balls – Phil Salt vs South Africa, Manchester, 2025
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