Phil Salt brought up his fourth half-century at Eden Gardens in IPL 2024 to help Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roll over Delhi Capitals (DC) by seven wickets with 21 balls to spare in Monday night.
Salt smashed 68 off just 33 balls, with 60 of those runs coming in the powerplay. During that phase, he clubbed seven fours and four sixes as KKR raced to 79, which was the fifth time this season that they posted 75 or more in the first six overs.
"It is high-risk at times, but it is also about putting the odds in your favour and not taking the risks you don't want to," Salt told the host broadcaster after the game. "That's the sort of balance that every opening batter tries to strike. Sometimes you can miss the boat a few innings in a row, but you just got to keep backing yourself and sort of taking those right options."
Salt picked his targets against DC: Lizaad Williams, off whom he plundered 15 off the 23 runs in KKR's first over, and Khaleel Ahmed, who he took down for three fours and a six in the final over of the powerplay. Salt faced 28 of the 36 balls when the fielding restrictions were on, while his opening partner Sunil Narine played second fiddle.
They brought up their fifth fifty-plus opening stand in IPL 2024 off just 26 balls, continuing their successful season as an opening pair with a 79-run partnership. Across nine innings, Salt and Narine have now added 485 runs, which is the most by any pair for the first wicket this IPL. Their scoring rate of 12.43 is also the second-highest for any pair to have opened the batting at least five times.
"We've dovetailed nicely this competition, [and] that's because if one of us gets going, then you feed the strike to that person," Salt said. "When I get going, he feeds me the strike, and vice-versa. It's good that we are on the same page like that."
Asked about the nature of his conversations with Narine, Salt said, "Off-field, we have a laugh generally. On-field, there's not too much. We normally do all the talking the day before. Sunil keeps it very simple, but he's a deep thinker of the game. With all his experience, he's really good to lean on. We normally just have a good time. He brings a lot of experience to the partnership."
The Narine-Salt duo has made the job of KKR captain Shreyas Iyer a lot easier.
"Phil, he comes for the team meetings and also gives his inputs," Iyer said. "That guy is completely engrossed in the game. He wants to learn what's happening, and every time [he is] coming up and giving such kind of performances and brilliant starts. It's just pure bliss to see him coming and performing the way he has been."