Buttler serves up English treat

● Batting masterclass gives the tourists unassailable lead in series against Aussies

Eoin Morgan hailed Jos Buttler’s role in the series-clinching one-day international victory over Australia and declared England’s performance the best of his captaincy.

Buttler was the star attraction with a middle-order masterclass of 100 not out in 83 balls but Morgan was delighted with the entire tenor of his team’s 16-run success.

Having initially struggled on a tricky SCG surface England held their nerve to post 302 for six, Chris Woakes’ unbeaten 53 providing a brilliant foil for Buttler as the pair piled on 102 in the last ten overs.

They then overcame an injury to Liam Plunkett which deprived them of a key bowler and left Joe Root filling in for almost nine overs.

“I’m so proud of everyone in the team,” said Morgan, whose side claimed a 3-0 lead in the five-match series. “It was, I think, our best performance as a group to date, definitely throughout the last two years.

“Throughout the game there were a lot of questions asked of us. It was a bit of a cat fight for quite a stage and Jos anchored the innings until about the 40th over and then really did pull the trigger. To have a guy with his capabilities and talent in our team, we are very privileged. It was a huge contribution.”

Morgan’s leadership was tested when Plunkett left the field with a hamstring problem having bowled just eight balls, but he found a willing stand-in in Root and saw Woakes and Mark Wood shoulder the seam burden manfully. “Liam going down [meant] somebody else stepping up,” said Morgan. “As a group, bowling unit and fielding unit, we did give a lot more than we normally do.”

Buttler echoed his skipper’s enthusiasm and admitted his partnership with Woakes took England well beyond their most optimistic total. “It was very special. One of the 0 Chris Woakes congratulates Jos Buttler on reaching his ton. best wins we’ve had,” he said. “We were thinking 270 or 280. Jonny Bairstow came back into the dressing room after he got out and said that 270 would be a really competitive score, so we were just trying to work towards that and give ourselves three overs to really take it on.

“Woakesy is playing so well at the minute, he probably went earlier than I did and played some fantastic shots. As a side that is how we want to play so we can’t have any fear. We’ve talked about doing that and we had to stay true to it.”

England have a rest day today, when Plunkett’s fitness will be assessed, before minds turn to Adelaide, Perth and a possible whitewash.

Meanwhile, Australia captain Steve Smith shut down one controversy and stoked another as his side slipped to their third straight one-day defeat.

Smith had an eventful day at the SCG, given out after a disputed catch by Buttler as he attempted in vain to reel in the 303 target.

He was also called to explain television pictures which showed him rubbing his mouth and then the ball, with England’s Barmy Army Twitter account suggesting he may have used lip balm to alter the condition of the Kookaburra.

“There’s nothing in it,” Smith said. “People said something about lip balm but if you look at my lips they’re pretty dry, I certainly didn’t have any of that on. It’s just the way I get some spit into the side of my mouth and on to the ball.”

Australia were fined after match referee Ranjan Madugalle deemed Smith’s side to be two overs short in their allotted timeframe. That means Smith was docked 40 per cent of his match fee, while his team-mates will lose 20 per cent of theirs.