Phil Salt scored 141 not out, the highest by an English in T20Is
England posted a record total of 304 runs in T20Is
Jos Buttler contributed 83 runs in a partnership with Salt
South Africa collapsed to 158 all out in response
Phil Salt struck an incredible 141 not out as England posted a score of 304 on their way to a 146-run win against South Africa.
In what was England's biggest win in men's T20Is, and South Africa's heaviest defeat, Salt managed to score his country's highest individual total in the format off just 60 deliveries at Old Trafford.
Salt and Jos Buttler (83 off 30) were off to a flying start, scoring 100 runs in the powerplay and putting on a partnership of 126 before Buttler was caught in the deep by Tristan Stubbs off the bowling of Bjorn Fortuin, who was a late replacement for the injured Keshav Maharaj.
Jacob Bethell (26 off 14) scored some quickfire runs of his own before captain Harry Brook (41 not out off 21) helped Salt put on a grandstand finish as England became just the third nation to reach the 300-run mark in T20Is.
Aiden Markram (41 off 20) and Ryan Rickelton (20) put on a 50-run opening partnership for the Proteas, but Jofra Archer (3-25) dismissed Rickelton and Lhuan-dre Pretorius (two) in quick succession.
Despite late efforts from Fortuin (32 off 16) and Donovan Ferreira (23), Sam Curran (2-11) and Liam Dawson (2-34) dismantled the middle order before Will Jacks took two wickets in one over to bowl South Africa out for 158 in 16.1 overs.
Data Debrief: Salt in the wound for South Africa
England's total of 304 is the highest against any full member nation in men's T20Is, while their 100 in the opening six overs is their most in T20Is powerplays.
While also posting the highest individual score in T20Is by an English batter, Salt also scored the fastest century in the format for his country after reaching triple digits in just 39 balls. He is the only English batter to score multiple hundreds (four), while only Glenn Maxwell and Rohit Sharma have scored more T20I centuries (both five).
It was a tough game for Kagiso Rabada (0/70), who became just the third bowler from a full member nation to concede 70+ runs in a single innings of a men's T20I (after Liam McCarthy - 0-81 v West Indies and Kasun Rajitha - 0-75 v Australia).
