'Sometimes, you've got to fight harder’ - Phil Salt reflects on crucial innings after guiding England to dominant win over India in 3rd T20I

England opener Phil Salt admitted he had to "fight a bit harder" than usual after overcoming a slow start to play a match-defining knock against India in the third T20I at Trent Bridge. Salt top-scored with 70 off 44 deliveries as England posted a challenging total of 201/7. The hosts then bundled India out for just 76, sealing a comprehensive victory.

The right-handed batter had an unusually quiet start to his innings, managing just 17 runs off his first 19 deliveries. After facing a maiden over from Arshdeep Singh, Salt struggled to find his rhythm and looked visibly frustrated in the middle.

However, the opener shifted gears after taking on Varun Chakravarthy, smashing the spinner for a six before scoring 53 runs off his final 25 balls to anchor England's innings.

Speaking after the match, Salt admitted that batting at a slower pace early in a T20 innings felt unfamiliar but believed it helped him understand the conditions better.

"It's definitely foreign territory in T20 cricket, the way the game's going, being on the slower side of things. But it's so valuable as a batter to have that time to assess the conditions and to make sure that you're making smart decisions, and mitigating risk to the best of your ability,” Salt is quoted as saying by Cricinfo. S

alt also explained that England's cautious start allowed the batters to assess the pitch, which turned out to be more challenging than expected.

"Part of being an opening batter in T20 cricket - especially when you're playing against sides like India - is getting off to a good start and putting them under pressure. Our start wasn't electric - we didn't fly out of the blocks - but that gave us time to assess and communicate what the surface was doing, what they were doing,” he continued.

The opener felt England's total of 201 was well above par on the Trent Bridge surface, with support coming from Sam Curran's unbeaten 41 and a late cameo from Will Jacks.

Salt also highlighted that adapting to different conditions is a crucial part of modern T20 cricket, even if it means moving away from his naturally aggressive approach.

"Sometimes, it works and it's easy; sometimes, you've got to fight a bit harder, and find a different route into the game. Things have changed here [at Trent Bridge] in white-ball cricket over the last few years; pitches don't necessarily have the same look about them that they used to when they were really good batting wickets,” he concluded.

England's clinical all-round performance helped them take a significant lead of 2-0 with this crucial win over the visitors.