England in New Zealand: Phil Salt & Harry Brook power tourists to victory in first T20
Brook insisted there would be no talk of next month’s Ashes series in the white-ball group ahead of this series and insisted the focus would be on preparing for the T20 World Cup in February.
Whether that’s true or not, any Brook run would benefit both teams.
Brook’s T20 international record is a modest figure for a man of his talent – an average of 29 and five fifties in 50 innings – but it was one of his best innings in the white-ball format as captain.
All six of his strikes were clean strikes over mid-wicket – three from the spin of Mitchell Santner and one each from seamers Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson – on the same surface on which his side struggled in the faded first T20 on Saturday, but it came flat.
Salt’s knock follows scores of 89 against Ireland and 141 against South Africa in his six T20 innings since the start of September. He hit one six but 11 fours, targeting the back of the covers and leg-side square.
Salt and Brook were caught behind in the 18th over and a subsequent cameo from Tom Banton saw him finish unbeaten on 29 from 12 balls, surpassing England’s previous high score of 208-5.
Although Jos Buttler batted in the middle for four and Jacob Bethell hit four boundaries in a 12-ball 24 at mid-on, England’s T20 batting line-up is starting to take shape.
