Follow UsAfter missing a couple of matches due to illness, Phil Salt returned to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) with a bang, smashing 62 off 32 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Lucknow on May 23 (Friday).
However, the England batter did not start off well, managing just nine off his first 10 deliveries. This was after getting caught off a no-ball. But once the initial jitters were behind him, Salt went on a rampage against Eshan Malinga, Harshal Patel and Harsh Dubey to bring up his fifty off just 27 deliveries - his third of the season.
His assault took him past the 300-run mark this season, at an impressive strike rate of 173. He has gone past 300 runs for the second season in a row. He slammed 435 runs and struck at 182 in Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) title-winning season in 2024.
Against SRH, Salk put on 80 for the first wicket with Virat Kohli in seven overs to get RCB off to a good start, in pursuit of 232. He added a further 40 with Mayank Agarwal to put RCB well on top in the mammoth run-chase.
SRH would have breathed a sigh of relief when their skipper, Pat Cummins, got rid of Salt to pull his team back into the game. Before this knock, Salt managed just 26, 1 and 4 in his previous three innings before the Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended for a week.