Opening batting made easier by Roy’s intimidating presence – Buttler

Jos Buttler thinks his job at the top of England’s order in Twenty20s is made simpler because of the “intimidating” presence of opening partner Jason Roy after the pair shone in the eight-wicket hammering of Sri Lanka.

Once the tourists were restricted to a below-par 129-7 after winning the toss, Buttler took the plaudits with an unbeaten 68 as England overhauled their target with 17 balls to spare at Cardiff.

It was Buttler’s ninth 50 in 20 innings opening the batting in T20s for England and came after a belligerent 80- run stand in 9.1 overs alongside Roy, who contributed 36 to break the back of the paltry chase.

After helping England draw first blood in the three-match series, Buttler was eager to pay tribute to Roy, whose enterprising knock was only ended by a stunning diving catch by Danushka Gunathilaka.

“It’s great to open with Jason,” Buttler said. “I get on really well with him, he’s a great person to bat with. I think he’s such an intimidating guy to bowl at, it certainly makes your job easier at the other end because he puts so much pressure on the opposition.

“As soon as we got in, we took the scoreboard pressure away by getting off to a really good start and I felt like it was important to try to see the innings through.

“I thought this was a great performance. It’s a great start but it is only a start. I thought our bowling performance was fantastic and once we got away in the powerplay, we put the game to bed to an extent.”

The gulf in quality between the teams–England are the top ranked T20 side in the world while their opponents are eighth–was apparent throughout, with Sri Lanka crashing to their 10th loss in their last 11 matches in this format.

Adil Rashid took two for 17 and, arguably equally as impressively, did not concede a single boundary in his four overs, with Sri Lanka’s batsmen struggling to time the ball on a pitch which posed their England counterparts relatively few problems.

Conditions are unlikely to be similar in the T20 World Cup later this year, which is scheduled to start in India in October, but Buttler insisted these matches remain a worthwhile exercise for Eoin Morgan’s side.

“It’s advantageous to be together as a side playing T20 cricket,” he said. “A winning side gives you confidence and to head into a World Cup as part of a successful team will give us a great start into the tournament.”