Buttler keen to avoid early exit for England at World Twenty20

Victory over South Africa vital

Jos Buttler knows all too well what it feels like to leave a party early and is desperate to avoid another premature exit at the World Twenty20.

Buttler was on duty in Bangladesh two years ago when England failed to reach the competition’s knockout phase and again when they were humiliated at the group stage of the 2015 World Cup.

He now faces the prospect of an unwanted hat-trick after England lost their opening fixture in India amid a torrent of sixes from the West Indies’ Chris Gayle.

Realistically, England must beat South Africa on the same ground today if they are to progress from the Super 10s and the possible consequences of that match are not lost on the vicecaptain.

“Ten months ago at the World Cup was some of the worst feelings I’ve ever had on a cricket field,” said Buttler.

“Whether you’ve played in world tournaments or not, we’ve all had bad experiences in cricket. You learn from them, you move on from them.

“You still come back, dust yourself down and go again.

“We’ll be really focused on that. It’s still a game of cricket, you have the same emotions and the same thought processes but the outcome could potentially be more defining on the tournament.

“But it’s still 20 overs, it’s still 22 yards, and we’ve got to focus on that and learn from what happened against the West Indies.”

Meanwhile, Tillakaratne Dilshan led Sri Lanka to a six-wicket win over Afghanistan in their first game of the World Twenty20 Super 10 stage yesterday.

Asghar Stanikzai made a career-best 62 and Samiullah Shenwari smashed 31 from 14 balls as Afghanistan, who qualified ahead of Zimbabwe from Group B, made 153 for seven.

But Dilshan batted through for an unbeaten 83 to stave off any threat of an upset.

Picture: PA. Jos Buttler addresses the media yesterday.