Morgan hails Buttler as England beat Sri Lanka to all but seal semi-final place

0

Jos Buttler celebrates his century for England against Sri Lanka at the T20 World Cup

Jos Buttler’s 101* put England in control against Sri Lanka (Picture: Getty)

Eoin Morgan described Jos Buttler’s incredible century as ‘one of his best ever innings’ after England beat Sri Lanka by 26 runs to put themselves within touching distance of the T20 World Cup semi-finals.

Buttler once again stole the show with a sublime batting performance to put England in the driving seat, reaching a ton with a six from the final ball as Sri Lanka were set an imposing target of 164 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Making 101 not out in the thrilling Group 1 encounter, the wicket-keeper-batsman became the first men’s player to score a century for England in all three formats of the game.

The Lions got off to the worst possible start as they attempted to chase down England’s total, with Pathum Nissanka run out midway through the first over of their innings.

Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga launched a spirited fightback with scores of 26 and 34 to take Sri Lanka from 76-5 to 129-5, but the latter’s dismissal triggered a collapse and sent England on their way to victory.

The result made Morgan the most successful ever captain in T20Is and ensured England maintained their 100 per cent record in the tournament ahead of their final group-stage match versus South Africa on Saturday.

Tymal Mills hobbled off with a muscle injury to put a slight dampener on the occasion and England will hope the pace bowler makes a speedy recovery to play a part in the remainder of the campaign.

England v Sri Lanka - ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021

Mills limped off with an injury at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium (Picture: Getty)

‘I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve done tonight. I thought the guys had to fight unbelievably hard, particularly with the ball and in the first ten overs with the bat,’ England captain Morgan told Sky Sports.

‘The conditions did continue to change and obviously Tymal going down asked another question of ourselves.

‘But I thought Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali stepped up unbelievably well to support the other guys with the ball. I can’t fault our guys tonight. We thought it was challenging for the top of the order.

‘I thought Jos Buttler played one of his best ever innings in an England shirt. It was incredible to be at the other end and watch the ebb and flow and just sheer determination towards the end.

‘He really is one of the best in the game, a privilege to play with and great to have on our team.’

Buttler became the only England player to score a century in all three formats of the game (Picture: Getty)

Asked what makes Buttler so special, Morgan replied: ‘I think it’s a combination of unbelievable skill level and the calm nature in which he goes about it.

‘He combines them along with reading the game and knowing where and when to score.

‘If he manages to get on top he will punish you so to see him in this sort of form in the group stage only bodes well for the latter stages.’

England will be sweating over the severity of Mills’ injury (Picture: Getty)

Buttler admitted he initially struggled for momentum with the bat before his skipper joined him at the crease.

‘I found it really tough early on and then managed to get a good partnership going with Morgs and we tried to attack in the back-end,’ he explained.

‘We were just trying to get something going. We were finding the spin bowlers really tricky and for a time we were thinking that 120 might be a good score so that’s what we were working towards.

‘Then we started to get going a little bit and the partnership worked nicely, each taking a small side and try to target that. I really enjoy batting with Morgs.

On the final three balls of his innings, Buttler added: ‘I was just trying to guess where he was going to bowl to be honest!

‘I was pretty calm, but I think by that stage I had batted for a long time and it was just a case of staying patient and hoping that he’ll miss.’


MORE : Virat Kohli reacts to India’s heavy loss to New Zealand as T20 World Cup exit looms


MORE : Muttiah Muralitharan claims India are over-reliant on Jasprit Bumrah and says Pakistan look primed for T20 World Cup title bid

Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our  Twitter, & Facebook

We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.

For all the latest Cricket News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! Rapidtelecast.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
Leave a comment