Buttler’s blitz not enough to save England
ENGLAND were blown away by India in the opening match of their T20 series at Emirates Old Trafford, despite a blistering innings by home favourite Jos Buttler.
The Lancashire batsman, pictured, made 69 off just 46 balls while opening the batting with Jason Roy. But they lost the wickets of Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root in one Kuldeep Yadav over and could only manage 159-8 from their 20 overs.
That never seemed enough against such a powerful Indian side.
And so it proved as Lokesh Rahul smashed a stunning 101 from only 54 balls - with 10 fours and five sixes - to see the visitors home with right wickets and 10 balls to spare in front of a sell-out crowd at Old Trafford.
England captain Morgan, who has just led his side to a 6-0 limited overs win against Australia, says his side have to now show they can bounce back when the face India again on Friday in Cardiff. He said: “India played well. It wasn’t our day but, hopefully, we can turn it around for the next game.
“I thought it was thoroughly deserved. The best part of our game was the start.
“Jason Roy and Jos Buttler got us off to a fantastic start and the conditions were really good.
“I thought India fought back really well and them taking three wickets in an over really did set us back quite a bit and we never really regained momentum.”