Skipper Jos Buttler exudes confidence in England squad

An ecstatic Jos Buttler has said the confidence is high in the England squad since they have great players. The English skipper’s remarks came after their morale-boosting 20-run win over an in-form New Zealand in their T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 clash at The Gabba on Tuesday, November 1.

England’s win has meant that the semifinal spots in Group 1 are still up for grabs and all three teams barring Afghanistan have an opportunity to try and cement their place in the final four with one each game left. More importantly, the Three Lions’ victory has given a crucial lifeline to the reigning champions Australia.

We didn’t think too much about the past poor performance: Jos Buttler

“We didn’t think too much about the past poor performance (loss to Ireland), we have great players in the playing XI and in the squad, we had the confidence that showed up today,” Buttler said at the post-match presentation.

“We bat deep, I thought the wicket was a little bit tricky, especially against spin and I thought Alex Hales played a fine hand, it’s all about partnerships, one day he gets going, some other day it’ll be my turn. It’s a ruthless tournament, last year South Africa went out despite having four wins out of five games. This is a World Cup, there will be pressure and the best teams do thrive under it”, the England white-ball captain further added.

Jos Buttler was also adjudged the Player of the Match for his match-winning knock as he scored a blistering 73 runs off 47 balls at an outstanding strike rate of 155.3 including seven fours and two sixes. He was involved in a crucial 81-run opening stand along with Alex Hales who also roared back to form scoring a 40-ball 52. Their contributions helped the Three Lions post a competitve total of 179/6 on the board.

New Zealand in reply were restricted to 159/6 despite a blistering 36-ball 62 from Glenn Phillips. Chris Woakes and Sam Curran were the picks of the bowlers for England with two scalps each.