It would be sweet to knock out Aussies, admits Buttler
JOS Buttler is hoping England can deliver a knockout blow for Australia in the Champions Trophy at Edgbaston.
The Ashes rivals will square up for the second successive edition of the tournament, with England in the enviable position of knowing after their two Group A wins out of two so far that they have already booked a semi-final berth in Cardiff next Wednesday.
Before then, Australia will almost certainly need to beat Eoin Morgan’s hosts in Birmingham tomorrow to sneak a return to the same venue in the last four after their two washouts to date.
The tie is a repeat of the 2013 fixture, comfortably won by England on the way to that year’s final in a match better remembered for a vexed aftermath in which Australia opener David Warner ended up aiming a punch at Joe Root in a Broad Street bar after a late-night misunderstanding between the two players.
Buttler, one of three survivors alongside Root and Morgan from England’s victory almost exactly four years ago, knows England can land a metaphorical but terminal shot this time.
Asked about the prospect of putting Australia out of the tournament, he said: “We won’t think too much about it... but it is always nice to know that would be the outcome if we did win. We now know we have qualified for the semifinals, but we want to be going into a semi on the back of a win – and we’ll be desperate to do that on Saturday.”
Whatever the consequences, Buttler confirms the stakes always rise against Australia.
“Of course they do – any England-Australia game is a huge game,” he said, promising, too, that the hosts will once again stick to the tactics which have transformed their one-day fortunes.
“Both sides are very aggressive, attacking teams. We will not change our style of cricket. We’ll keep trying to take them on. They’ve got some good pace bowlers, but we’ll try and be aggressive with the bat as well.”
It was also in Birmingham that Morgan’s England first unveiled their new ODI template of all-out attack at the first attempt after their miserable 2015 World Cup campaign, with centuries from Buttler and Root in a 210-run win over New Zealand. Buttler added: “We’ve got some good memories of playing there. It’s a ground we like playing at.”
The wicketkeeper was back in the runs with 61 not out in the 87-run win over the Kiwis in Cardiff on Tuesday which clinched a last-four place.
It was his second unbeaten half-century in four ODI innings this summer, after a poor winter run.
“I think maybe in the India and West Indies series I was short of runs,” he said. “(But) going away to the IPL I felt in fantastic form, and then since I have been back I have scored a couple of fifties.”