Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan posted 112 as England recovered from a slow start to beat Sri Lanka by 26 runs and seal their fourth consecutive T20 World Cup victory; Watch South Africa vs Bangladesh, followed by Pakistan vs Namibia, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 9:30 am on Tuesday
England’s Jos Buttler scored an undefeated 101 of 67 balls against Sri Lanka
England captain Eoin Morgan praised Jos Buttler’s undefeated century as “one of his best international hits” after they beat Sri Lanka to secure a spot in the T20 World Cup semifinals.
Buttler shined 101 not out of 67 balls in Sharjah, sharing a 112 partnership on the fourth field with the captain to transform England’s fortunes after they had slumped to 35-3 on power play.
The wicketkeeper-hitter’s explosive innings came just two days after his undefeated 71st led England to a resounding victory against Australia, and he has now recorded hundreds internationals in all three formats.
Morgan, whose team completed their fourth consecutive victory in the tournament, winning by 26 runs, said: “I thought Jos Buttler played one of his best innings in the England jersey.
“It was amazing to be on the other end and to see the ebb and flow and then absolute dominance towards the end.
“He really is one of the best in the game, it is a privilege to play with him and it is great to have him on our team.
“He has an incredible skill level and the calm nature with which he does it – he combines both with reading the game and knowing when to score.
“If he gets to the top, he manages to punish you. Seeing him in this kind of form now, in the group stage, bodes well for the later stages.”
Buttler also enjoyed a good day behind the stumps, running out of Pathum Nissanka in the first over of Sri Lanka’s response and then reacting superbly to cut through Dasun Shanaka’s stumps with a direct hit later in the innings.
The 31-year-old admitted that the second of those layoffs, which came just after England were forced to reorganize their plans for death overs after godfather Tymal Mills stopped injured, actually gave him greater satisfaction. than its first century T20I.
“It was probably the favorite part of my day,” Buttler said. “We were under pressure for long stretches of that chase, so taking that wicket was crucial. I was delighted with that.
“I’m excited about where I am with my hitting and excited for the rest of the tournament. I found it really difficult early on, we found the spinning pins especially difficult to get away with that low bounce.
“I managed to get a very good partnership with Morgs. For a while we thought 120 could be a good score, so we worked towards it and then we started to get going a little bit.”
“At the end I was pretty calm, but at that point I had hit a lot of time, I just stayed patient and backed off to get ahead. The deadly hitting part of my game has gotten stronger and I felt like I used a lot of experience.”
Morgan’s 40-for-36-ball innings provided some relief to the England captain, who entered the tournament on a low scoring streak in the Indian Premier League and had only hit once before the Sri Lanka game.
He added: “You have to believe because if you don’t, no one else will. It was a tough test, but it was nice hanging out with one of my best friends, having fun and getting a partnership that helps us improve.” the board that we could try to defend.
“I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve done tonight. The guys had to fight incredibly hard, particularly with the ball and probably the first 10 overs with the bat.
“Conditions here continue to change and I thought our complete performance on the field was quite good, given how wet the terrain got.”
“Tymal went down and asked us another question, but Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali took an incredible step with the ball. I can’t blame our guys.”
Watch the T20 World Cup live on Sky from now until November 14.
