Opener Phil Salt slammed a belligerent unbeaten 87 as defending champions England began their T20 World Cup Super Eight campaign with a crushing eight-wicket win over co-hosts West Indies here.

Coming off a scorching display against Afghanistan, the West Indies amassed a competitive 180/4, but England waltzed to 181/2 in 17.3 overs in their Group 2 match.

Salt led the Three Lions’ charge with a bruising innings that came off 47 balls with seven fours and five sixes. The right-hander received copious help from Jonny Bairstow (48 not out, 26b, 5x4, 2x6).

But credit should also be given to the English bowlers for producing as many as 51 dot balls with Jofra Archer (1/34) and Adil Rashid (1/21) accounting for 22 of them.

Their win with 15 balls to spare took the net run-rate of England to 1.343, putting them ahead of South Africa who posted a win over tournament co-hosts USA earlier on Wednesday.

“That’s a really good performance from us, we executed well with both bat and ball... Smart play from us," skipper Jos Buttler said.

Brief scores: West Indies 180/4 in 20 ovs (Johnson Charles 38). England 181/2 in 17.3 ovs (Phil Salt 87 n.o.). England won by 8 wickets.