Phil Salt has stated that England will look to draw motivation from their defeat to West Indies and ensure they produce their best performance in Saturday’s crucial Group C clash against Scotland in Kolkata. England suffered a 30-run loss to West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday, leaving them with no room for error in the remainder of the group stage.
Scotland, meanwhile, head into the contest with renewed confidence after registering an impressive win over Italy, bouncing back strongly
from their own defeat to West Indies. In both of their T20 World Cup triumphs, in 2010 and 2022, they recovered from early setbacks to go on and lift the trophy.
Salt, who featured in both the semi-final and final of the 2022 edition, emphasised that the squad believes in its ability to peak at the right time. With victories over Scotland and Italy required to guarantee progression to the Super Eights, England will be aiming to respond strongly and keep their campaign on track.
"I think that's the mark of all good teams, and all good athletes in general, in professional sport. I think when your back is against the wall, to come out and bring that best version of yourself... Obviously we did that in 2022 and we'll look to do that again here. I've said it a couple times now, but it's really, really simple what we need to do. We need to remove the outcome from everything. We need to remove the outcome, focus on the processes of what we're doing and bring the best version of ourselves,” said Salt as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
England also have the memory of a tense contest against Scotland to keep them alert. At the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados, Scotland surged to 90 without loss after 10 overs before rain forced the match to be abandoned. That remains the only previous T20I meeting between the two sides, and Salt stressed that England will not take Scotland lightly in their upcoming clash.
"I'm very familiar with all of them. I've watched a lot of their cricket and played against them a few times - not necessarily just when it's been England against Scotland, but in different franchise leagues. They're a good side. They've got a good attack. I think they've got quite a lot of games under their belts as a collective as well. They've been in this position before, and I think they will put up a good fight,” said Salt.
Salt scored a brisk 30 off just 14 balls to provide England with a flying start on Wednesday before being caught in the ring off Romario Shepherd. Despite the dismissal, he maintained that he would continue with the same aggressive approach, aiming to put the bowlers under pressure from the outset. However, Salt acknowledged that adaptability has been a key part of his growth as a T20 batter. He reflected on his experience with Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens during the 2024 IPL.
"When I was here, GG [Gautam Gambhir] was quite big on me, giving me a few balls. That didn't necessarily mean stand there and block the first six, but it meant be really, really smart. It was actually a big part of me getting better as a player, a big part of my improvement. Where are my high-percentage shots? Where did they bowl? Where did they miss?,” said Salt.
“Knowing that, going into the game confident that I've seen all the data, seen all the footage, that I've got a good idea of what's coming at me - they might bowl something completely different, but I've played the percentages with my prep, and then I can go out in the middle. I'll train with that in mind, with where they missed, what they go to as defensive options. So I'll tick that box as well. Then I'll go out there and do the exact same thing again, almost try and repeat it, try and take the conscious thought away from it as best I can,” he concluded.
