JOS WHIPS THEIR BUTT
In- form star’s brutal show sealed with a soaring six
At the end of a brutal Adam Zampa over, Buttler sent the winning blow soaring into the top tier of the Rod Bransgrove Pavilion at the Ageas Bowl as if he were teeing up on the golf course behind him.
It sealed a crushing six- wicket win and gave him his highest international T20 score to boot.
Buttler’s 77 not out from 54 balls ended the debate over whether he should be England’s T20 opener or finisher. He can be both!
He said: “It is the best place to bat in T20 cricket and it’s great when you can walk off having seen your team over the line.
“I’ve missed playing T20 and was really looking forward to these games and playing against Australia is always an extra motivation to do well.”
If Buttler was the star with the bat, then Jofra Archer and Mark Wood were irresistible with the ball, bowling their quickest spells of the summer, with Archer touching 96mph.
It put the skids under the Aussie innings from the off and from 30- 3, following Steve Smith’s kamikaze run out, their hopes of setting up a decider tomorrow took a nosedive.
Archer’s pace was something to behold and is precisely what Joe Root is trying to harness in the next Ashes and Buttler confirmed: “As an opener the last man I want to face is Jofra Archer with a brand new ball.”
Mitchell Starc is in the same category but Buttler dealt with his thunderbolts to remind everyone why he is regarded as one of the finest white- ball cricketers the game has seen.
He took calculated risks in the powerplay, then mixed precision with power to leave Australia’s bowlers scratching their heads. Starc said: “He’s a clean striker of the ball and hard to stop once he gets going. He is someone we need to get a plan for over the rest of these white- ball games.”
Australia spluttered to 157- 7, which felt on the light side, but on a pitch that was being used for the second time in three days the tourists had a chance.
They needed wickets to make the most of that chance but for much of England’s innings they failed to do so until Dawid Malan, Tom Banton and Eoin Morgan fell in quick succession.
The memory of Australia’s Friday night choke was fresh enough in the memory for Buttler to make sure he stuck around to the end.
It allowed Moeen Ali to ease the pressure in the penultimate over with a monster six and four of his own to take England up to the line before Buttler swatted them over it.
He added: “Mo said he fancied taking on the leg- spinner and it takes courage to play like that.
“But he did it brilliantly and made the finish much easier.”