Follow UsEngland batter Phil Salt smashes a fifty off 40 deliveries in match 2 of the International League T20 (ILT20) 2025 for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) against Desert Vipers (DV) in Abu Dhabi. This Knock comes at the right time for him as he will play a key role in the T20 International (T20I) series against India, starting January 22.
This is also a hige boost for all Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans, as he was snapped up by them for INR 11.5 crore in the IPL 2025 auction last month.
Salt had a close call in the innings as he was adjudged leg-before of Nathan Sowter. He, too, was convinced that he was out but decided to review anyway. As luck would have it, the ball tracking showed that it would have missed the leg stump.
ADKR were in a spot of bother at 39/3 after seven overs. That's when Alishan Sharafu (46) joined hands with Salt. The duo put put pn 86 off 60 to resurrect the innings before Sharafu sportingly decided to retire out for 46 off 34 to make way for Andre Russell.
Russell did not disappoint as he smashed three sixes off Mohammad Amir, in the 19th over. He finished with 30 off 14., while Salt remained unbeaten of 71 off 49.
2024 was Salt's best year in T20 cricket. He smashed 1,381 runs at 30.68, with a strike rate of 166.18. Moreover, he hit 10 50-plus scores, the most for him since his debut in 2016.
Playing his first T20 knock of 2025, Salt has smashed his first of what he will hope are many fifties this year.