Whitewash Buttler’s superb century clinches 5-0 series win over Australia
Superb century is key to thrilling one-wicket win Morgan’s in-form team complete 5-0 whitewash
It was a great day to be an England supporter at Old Trafford. The cheers that greeted every goal against Panama were just a warmup for the thrilling drama later on as Jos Buttler saw England home to a whitewash by holding his nerve in the tightest of situations.
Buttler has become a fine cricketer, schooled in England, but rounded off in the Indian Premier League.
His finishing abilities are on a level with Harry Kane. He has always been wonderfully destructive when power is needed to ram home his side’s advantage, but he now twins that with being calm when gauging a pressurised run chase. This innings of 110 was the equivalent of side-footing one home in a penalty shoot-out and the sell-out crowd loved it.
Coming in at 27 for four after watching others throw away their wickets, as England tried to blast their way to their low target, a bravado that could cost them a World Cup in 12 months’ time, Buttler instead never gave up.
He cajoled the tail-enders Adil Rashid and Jake Ball to stay with him, be patient and realise time was on their side. It was shades of MS Dhoni at his best and it resulted in a classic, low-scoring thriller that was a much better contest than the run-fests of Trent Bridge and Durham.
This was Buttler applying his new Test match role down the order, rescuing a lost cause with the bat and making the most of his partners at the other end.
A measure of his innings was the fact this was the first time he had faced 100 balls in an ODI as he put away the big shots. Four of his previous hundreds were all quicker than his 50 here.
Lancashire installed a giant screen behind the pavilion to show the football and the stands emptied as many spectators chose the World Cup over watching Australia’s innings collapse after a promising start.
But later on they were rooted to their seats as the tension grew with each wicket lost. When Liam Plunkett played an awful stroke to be out first ball, it left England 114 for eight, 92 short of their target with only two wickets left.
Buttler constantly talked between overs to Rashid, a talented batsman with 10 first-class hundreds, but prone to brain fades. Rashid did his job, eking out 20 runs from 47 balls allowing Buttler, who was on 47 when he came in, to keep the pressure on Australia.
Tim Paine brought back his strike bowler, Billy Stanlake, whose pace and bounce had put England in such trouble earlier on, in search of the dismissal that would expose last man Ball. Stanlake could not ratchet up the pace his young body still needs time to develop, and England saw him off easily.
Only 11 runs were needed when Rashid eventually made a mistake, playing one of his wristy flicks off Marcus Stoinis that went high in the air and was caught by Stanlake running in from fine leg.
Eleven needed, last pair at the crease. Ball can bat, but he looked dreadfully nervous as he walked in. The batsmen had crossed, but with one ball left in the over, Buttler was facing and he smashed it straight down the ground for his century off 117 balls, but he barely celebrated knowing the job was still to be finished.
It left Ball to face an over from Ashton Agar as Paine brought in the field to prevent the single. Ball was twitching, looking like he wanted to uncoil a big heave-ho at the spinner but instead he defended each one, and with every prod of a straight bat the cheers from the crowd grew louder. It was like listening to England score six goals all over again.
Buttler made his one bad choice of the day when he took a single off the first ball of the next over from Stoinis leaving Ball on strike, but he again blocked out the pressure, and squirted a single off the fifth ball.
It was soon over. A four in the next over from Buttler brought the house down and he was mobbed by his team-mates.
It capped a day that included a run out and a stumping for Buttler as the Australian batting once again collapsed. The pitch looked rock hard and full of runs, but the ball gripped for quicks bowling cross seamers and the spinners were on top all day.
Australia immediately showed more intent after their pedestrian approach in Durham, rattling to 50 in the fifth over, their quickest of the series, and nothing illustrated the more aggressive tactic than the attack on Joe Root.
He was allowed to coast through 10 overs at the Riverside, but his first over here cost 13 as Aaron Finch hit over the top and was happier to go for the sweep.
Australia’s weakness against spin did not take long to be exposed, Finch was bowled by a quicker, flatter delivery from Moeen Ali and two balls later Stoinis pulled straight into the hands of short fine leg.
Travis Head again gave away a promising start, looking in fine form for 50 off 36 balls, and Shaun Marsh was beaten by some turn from Moeen and stumped by Buttler.
England’s keeper is such a smart, athletic cricketer and that showed as he ran out Paine. Running round from behind the stumps, Buttler ripped off his glove, turned and threw down the wickets at the nonstriker’s end as Paine went for a single that was not there.
D’arcy Short played his best ODI innings, but his partners just could not hang around. Agar shouldered arms to left-armer Sam Curran and the tail could not stick with Short as Moeen and Rashid tidied up the innings.