Jos Buttler loses to India in T20 World Cup semi-final© X (Twitter)
After losing to India in the semi-final, a dejected England captain Jos Buttler acknowledged that the Men in Blue “dominated” his team and said Rohit Sharma’s men played well on a “difficult court” and deserved to reach the ICC T20 World Cup final. A clash between the two unbeaten teams is set for Saturday, with India set to take on South Africa in the T20 World Cup final. Rohit Sharma’s side beat England by a thumping 68 runs at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
The past was washed away by the Indian spinners as they bore the brunt of England’s attack. The nightmare of 2022 became a distant memory as the Indian team avenged their 10-wicket loss to England.
The England captain said his team was “outdone” by the Men in Blue’s bowlers as they were bowled out by India for 20-25 runs and admitted that the toss was not a key factor in determining the outcome of the match.
Buttler also praised India for playing a “fantastic game of cricket” and said the rains would not change things significantly.
“India clearly outplayed us. We were outplayed by India by 20-25 runs. India played well on a difficult court. They outplayed us and totally deserved the win. It was very different conditions (to 2022) but credit goes to India. They played a really good game of cricket. It was raining so I didn’t think the conditions would be that different. I don’t think so. They outplayed us,” Buttler said at the post-match presentation.
“Two of us (Rashid and Livingstone) bowled well. Looking back, we should have bowled to Moeen to match the way we played spin and the spinners bowled. I’m really proud of everyone’s effort. We stuck together but fell short when it mattered most,” he added.
Buttler acknowledged India’s dominance on the court in Guyana and praised the Men in Blue’s “fantastic spinners” who took six wickets. The England captain praised his team’s efforts throughout the tournament, saying they had “a lot of adversity throughout the tournament” but still overcame it as a team and played some really good cricket at times.
“They had above average scores. I don’t think the toss was necessarily the difference between the teams. They have some great spinners. They had above average scores and a great bowling attack and it was definitely going to be a tough chase. Given everything that has happened throughout the tournament, I’m really proud of the effort everyone has put in to be here. You can only play against the people in front of you. We faced a lot of adversity during the tournament but we came together well as a team and played really good cricket at times but fell short when it mattered most,” he added.
In the match, some late brilliance from Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja helped India lead to 171/7, riding on a Rohit fifty and an attacking cameo fireworks from Suriya Kumar Yadav at the Providence Stadium.
Chasing a target of 172, England came out on a high in their bid to defend their title, but the unbeaten Indian side proved a tough opponent for the defending champions. Hopes of a 2022 World Cup semi-final were slowly building among Indian fans as England racked up runs at a healthy run-rate of eight-plus.
Openers Buttler and Phil Salt got off to a solid start but the pairing of Akshar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah disrupted the top order as England were 72 for 7 and needed 100 with 46 balls remaining.
Jofra Archer was run out lbw by Jasprit Bumrah as England’s innings ended with a brilliant 21 runs from 15 balls, bringing the match to an end for the defending champions.
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