Jofra Archer hailed Phil Salt’s determination after the opener paved the way for England’s bowlers to seal a record T20 victory over India.
Archer and Josh Tongue had a field day at Trent Bridge, sharing seven wickets as the tourists were wiped out for just 76.
A thumping 125-run defeat for the reigning world champions was their worst ever loss in the format as they capitulated with more than eight overs remaining.
Archer was named player of the match for his fierce new-ball burst that saw him take out Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in the powerplay, but passed the credit on to Salt for a knock of 70.
Salt started by seeing off a maiden from Arshdeep Singh and did not kick into gear until the ninth over, eventually hitting 53 off his last 25 balls to carry the hosts to 201 for seven.
“Knowing Phil he would have liked to come out of the blocks flying but I’m really glad he didn’t give his hand away,” said Archer.
“At one point I think he had five from nine balls and the Phil of old would probably have got out within a few balls, but I was really glad to see him stick at it. Sometimes you’re not going to get the pretty runs, so he got some time in the middle and it was really, really important.”
Archer and Tongue consistently cranked their speeds up past 90mph in what appeared to be a plan to hustle the hard-hitting Indian top order.
Their combined success makes a repeat performance when the series moves on to Bristol on Thursday highly likely but Archer did his best to talk down the need for speed.
“I didn’t really think it was that pacy, it didn’t really feel that way out of the hand,” he said.
“It’s just how the luck went today. We have a lot of fun every time we bowl and I enjoy bowling with Josh. We bowled pretty well in Manchester too and neither of us really got the wickets to show for it, so I’m just glad we got some today.
“We’re both tall, both bowl pretty quick and most of the stuff that works for me, works for him. It’s small things, but small things go a long way.”
India captain Shreyas Iyer, whose side suffered a shock 2-0 series loss to Ireland in Belfast and now need to win both the remaining games just to salvage a draw against England, was seething.
“It was atrocious. Losing by such a big margin isn’t acceptable,” he said.
“(We need to) go back to the drawing board. It wasn’t a 200 wicket…but when you’re chasing, you have to set patterns and our execution was off.
“It’s a great opportunity to come back strong. We’ve played awful cricket but there is lots to learn as well. Every individual has to work on creating impact and taking responsibility.”
