GROS ISLET, St Lucia (CMC) — West Indies made a timid start to the Super Eight stage of the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup when their batting failed to ignite, and Phil Salt continued his love affair with their bowling and waltzed England to an eight-wicket win on Wednesday.

West Indies will have to regroup in quick time as they are to face Group A runners-up and fellow tournament co-hosts United States in their next match on Friday under the lights at Kensington Oval. Thereafter they head to Antigua for another night match against Group D winners South Africa at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

England meet the South Africans in their next match on Friday morning at the DSCG before they complete their Super Eight schedule against the Americans on Sunday morning at Kensington Oval.

On Wednesday, the Caribbean men could not get into gear after they were put in to bat and opener Brandon King retired hurt on 23 with a side strain in the fifth over, and their final total of 180 for four from their allocation of 20 overs always looked inadequate on a hard, true Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (DSCG) pitch.

Their bowlers got little assistance from the pitch under the lights, and they were unable to bail them out, and a perfectly crafted, unbeaten 87 off 47 balls from Salt and 48 not out from Jonny Bairstow led a successful run chase for the defending champions.

“After batting first, I think we left 15 or 20 runs out there as a batting group,” West Indies captain Rovman Powell said. “But we could have given a better display with the ball as a bowling group.”

The problems for the tournament co-host intensified after wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran dropped Salt, on seven, off left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein in the third over — an under-edge essaying a cut — with the England opener not yet fully into stride.

Similar to the West Indies innings, England struggled for runs between the seventh and 10th overs of the innings, reaching 83 for one at the halfway stage, after Roston Chase made the breakthrough when he got Buttler lbw for 25 on review, charging down the pitch and playing across the line in the eighth over.

Hosein felt the weight of Bairstow’s bat in the 15th over when he conceded a four, a six, and a four off the first three balls, but the match still hung in the balance with England still requiring 46 from the final five overs.

Romario Shepherd, one of two changes to the West Indies line-up, and a highly questionable choice ahead of left-arm pacer Obed McCoy, delivered perhaps the most forgettable over in his career and Salt hit him for three fours and three sixes to virtually wrap up the contest.

“Those kind of chances to Salt are always difficult,” Powell said. “You have to give credit to Phil. He seems to like playing against West Indies because every time he plays against us, he always hurts us, but we strayed away a little bit from our plans, especially to Phil, and it is just for us to look back at those plans and re-evaluate.”