February 1, Pune (Maharashtra) [India]: Phil Salt, the opening batsman for England, reached 2,000 runs in international cricket on Friday.

During his team’s fourth Twenty20 International match against India in Pune, Salt achieved this milestone. After a run of modest scores, he provided England a strong start in the game by hitting 23 in 21 balls with four boundaries.

Salt has amassed 2,004 runs with a strike rate of 136.97 and an average of 33.96 in 69 games. With a peak score of 122 in 64 innings, he has amassed four hundreds and nine fifties.

Salt has represented England in both white-ball forms since making his debut in 2021. He has scored 866 runs in 25 innings at an average of 34.64 and a strike rate of 113.94 in 27 One-Day Internationals (ODIs). He has five fifties and a century to his credit, with a top score of 122.

Having scored 1,138 runs at an average of 33.47, a strike rate of 161.87, three hundreds, and four fifties in 42 games and 39 innings, his T20I numbers are much superior. He has a maximum score of 119. He is one of the top T20I players currently available.

Joe Root is the highest-scoring player for England in international cricket, having amassed 20,387 runs at an average of 48.88 in 355 games and 468 innings, including 109 innings and 52 hundreds. 262 is his highest score. Following him are Kevin Pietersen (13,779 runs in 275 matches at an average of 44.30, with 32 hundreds and 67 fifties) and Alastair Cook (15,737 runs in 257 matches at an average of 42.88, with 38 centuries and 76 fifties).

Prior to the game, England chose to field first after winning the toss. Pacer Saqib Mahmood (3/35) took captain Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Sanju Samson in a single over, reducing India to 12/3. India collapsed at 79/5 despite important blows from Abhishek Sharma (29 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Rinku Singh (30 in 26 balls, with four boundaries and a six).

India reached 181/9 in their 20 overs thanks to an 87-run partnership between Hardik Pandya (53 in 34 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Dube (53 in 30 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes). Adil Rashid (1/35) and Overton (4/32) both bowled excellent periods.

Ben Duckett (39 in 19 balls, seven fours) and Phil Salt (23 in 21 balls, four boundaries) gave England a strong start in the run-chase, scoring 62 runs for the first wicket. But the hosts recovered with to Indian spinners, and they left England at 95/4. Although Harry Brook managed to reach a half-century with 51 in 26 balls, five fours, and two sixes, Harshit (3/33) and spinner Ravi Bishnoi (3/28) took the most wickets. England lost by 15 runs after being held at 166.

‘Player of the Match’ went to Dube. The series is now 3-1 in favor of India.