Phil Salt wastes little time becoming Capitals' batting bae as Parnell hails adaptability

He's probably used to that comparison by now, but Phil Salt wasted little time establishing himself as Pretoria Capitals' proverbial batting bae in the inaugural edition of the SA20.

The 26-year-old Englishman crafted a brilliant, unbeaten 77 off just 47 deliveries in spearheading a 23-run victory over Sunrisers Eastern Cape at St George's Park on Thursday, a classy knock that showcased a brand of nuance and swagger similar to Salt Bae, Turkish butcher Nusret Gokce, when he seasons his cuts of meat.

Indeed, Capitals skipper Wayne Parnell hailed the opener for taking the lead in the Centurion-based franchise belatedly playing some smart cricket on the night following a rather inauspicious, rain-interrupted start.

Some poor strokes from the top order and home skipper Aiden Markram's cheap two-wicket burst had seen the Capitals slip to 80/5, before Salt found effective allies in New Zealander Jimmy Neesham and Parnell as they led their team to an imposing total.

READ | Capitals let off the hook by Sunrisers to cruise to first win after Phil's stunning as-Salt

"I thought we actually played some pretty smart cricket even though we lost one or two wickets too many in the early stages," said Parnell.

"But just seeing the class of Phil, playing a different role from what he usually does [was really encouraging] and he and Jimmy really got us into a good position."

Salt is more renowned for his bludgeoning stroke-play - evidenced by a career strike-rate of 151 in the T20 format - yet the adaptability he illustrated in this effort was as compelling as a barrage of sixes.

Striking "just" 11 fours without remotely sacrificing his rapid scoring tempo proves the point.

"If you look at his career, he's quite an aggressive player. He was still