Salt: England century felt like a long time coming

Phil Salt said his maiden T20I century "felt like a long time coming" after inspiring England to beat West Indies by seven wickets in a thriller in Grenada.

The opener superbly finished unbeaten on 109, while Harry Brook smashed 31 off just seven deliveries as England chased 223 with one ball to spare.

Salt is only the fifth player to score a century for England in a T20 match and was just eight runs shy of passing Alex Hales' highest ever individual score.

The 27-year-old said: "It feels like it has been a long time coming in an England shirt. It's special to do it now, especially with them being able to take the series today.

"We've been talking as a group about someone standing up and being a match-winner, and how much time you have.

"We tried to get it down to 60 or 70 off the last five, and that's what we did, and Brooky came in and finished it off at the end."

England's hopes in the five-game series are still alive as they trail West Indies 2-1 — and Jos Buttler was full of praise for Player of the Match Salt.

The skipper said: "Great to keep the series alive, a fantastic win. Credit to Phil Salt, it's a fantastic innings.

"He has such great intent from ball one. It's something we've asked him to do, but for him to go on and stay in the game a bit longer, it can surprise you how much he can do in the end.

"It's great to get a win, it's what we're here for."

West Indies captain Rovman Powell said: "It's obviously disappointing to score 222 and lose, but the guys gave it a fair shot.

"It was a good effort — we didn't have the best start, but the way they finished was commendable and the bowler's bowled well in patches."