Joe Buttler to open again for England in deciding T20I against South Africa
Written by News on 16/02/2020
Jos Buttler will open the batting again for England in Sunday’s series-deciding third T20I against South Africa at Centurion, Eoin Morgan has confirmed.
Buttler scored just 15 and two in the first two games of the series after partnering Jason Roy and coming in ahead of Jonny Bairstow.
However, three of his seven T20I fifties have come as an opener and he averages 40.14 from that spot with a strike rate of 156.98.
When asked whether he was considering dropping Buttler down into the middle order, England skipper Morgan said: “Not for Sunday, definitely not.
“Jos is one of our greatest white-ball cricketers, as a batsman, never mind with the gloves. We believe him, Jason and Jonny are our top-three moving forward.”
Moeen Ali – who blazed an 11-ball 39 in England’s series-levelling, two-run win at Durban on Friday night – says Buttler is a match-winner from any position.
“The lucky thing is that we can change it and we’d be just as strong or even stronger,” said off-spinning all-rounder Ali.
“Jos is brilliant at number five but he’s also brilliant when he opens. So sometimes when he bats at five and plays the way he does, people say he could open and bat like that and bat for longer.
“Jos is one of our best finishers but we as a five, six, seven, eight have to get better as well. We can’t just rely on him. If he comes off at the top, we win the game in 10 overs.”
Morgan described Ali’s innings – in which he belted four sixes and six fours as England plundered 79 from their final 29 balls and posted 204-7 – as “match-winning” and Moeen says he was delighted his efforts helped his side to victory.
“It was nice to go out and middle a few early on, just to get going, and then I kind of went on my instinct,” said the 32-year-old, who came to the crease on Friday with England 125-5 after 15.1 overs.
“I thought, ‘right, I am going to try and put the pressure back on the bowlers’. It’s been a while since I have played well for England so it was nice to do that and contribute to winning a game.
“We were in a bit of a sticky situation where if we lost a couple of wickets we wouldn’t get 170, so it was nice to come off.
“Morgy [Morgan] always speaks about, even after a loss, to come out even more positive than the game before and you have to stick to that. It’s the reason we have been successful over the years.”
The Worcestershire star remained unavailable for the impending tour of Sri Lanka but says he hopes to return to five-day cricket this summer when England host West Indies and Pakistan.
“I’m looking to target this summer, for sure,” he added. “I want to give myself a bit more time. I want to make sure. Test cricket is not a place for tired minds or if you’re not fully into it.
“It is the hardest format by a mile and I want to make sure when I come back that I’m at my best. I want to be improved as a player, as a bowler and batter, in particular.
“I still want to play and have ambitions to play Test cricket. I’ll do it when I feel 100 per cent ready. I know I’ve got to fight for my spot. I will do it.”
Watch the third T20I between South Africa and England, at SuperSport Park in Centurion, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 12pm on Sunday.
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Joe Buttler to open again for England in deciding T20I against South Africa
