England will stick with Jos as opener

ENGLAND will persist with Jos Buttler as opener for this afternoon’s Twenty20 decider against South Africa at Centurion.

The Lancashire ace has partnered Jason Roy at the top of the order in the opening two games at East London and Durban, but scores of 15 and two has led to speculation he could drop down to five or six.

There is a growing clamour for Jonny Bairstow to be bumped up one place.

Buttler is yet to make a halfcentury in any format this winter, but three of his seven T20 fifties have come as an opener and he averages 40.14 there with a phenomenal strike rate of 156.98.

England captain Eoin Morgan is convinced the top-three in its current guise is the best option for England, whose dramatic two-run victory over the Proteas at Durban set up a winner-takes-all clash this weekend.

When asked whether he was contemplating moving Buttler down the order, Morgan replied: “Not for Sunday, definitely not. Jos is one of our greatest whiteball cricketers, as a batsman, never mind with the gloves.

“We believe him, Jason and Jonny are our top-three at the moment, moving forward.”

Buttler’s reputation as an outstanding ‘finisher’ in limitedovers cricket has been wellestablished but Moeen Ali believes his team-mate is more than capable of thriving wherever he bats.

Moeen said: “The lucky thing is that we can change it and we’d be just as strong or even stronger.

“Jos is brilliant at five, but he’s also brilliant when he opens. When he bats at five and plays the way he does, people say he could open and bat like that for longer. Jos is one of our best finishers but if he comes off at the top, we win the game in 10 overs.”

Lancashire’s Keaton Jennings, who has been recalled to the Test squad for next month’s tour to Sri Lanka, made 141 for the England Lions against a Cricket Australia XI in Hobart as they closed day one on 367-4.