Jos Buttler thrilled as England reach World Twenty20 semi-finals
Sunday 27 March 2016 08:29, UK
Jos Buttler was excited about the prospect of a World Twenty20 semi-final after inspiring England to thrilling 10-run victory over Sri Lanka in Delhi.
Buttler's brilliant 66 not out off just 37 balls and 42 from Jason Roy at the top of the order helped England to 171-4 in their must-win Group 1 match.
The 2010 champions then reduced Sri Lanka to 15-4 in their run chase, but it took cool heads from Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes to get England over the line as Angelo Mathews threatened to deny them a last-four spot.
Jordan picked up a wicket and conceded just seven runs in the penultimate over to end with 4-28 before Stokes finished the job to leave Mathews unbeaten on 73 in a losing cause.
"I felt like I played well to get us up to a good score, but with Angelo chasing it down it turned out to be a fantastic game," Buttler said after picking up his man-of-the-match award.
"It's great for us to get out on the right side. It was a really tight game. I think when we got them four down we expected it to be a bit more comfortable than that.
"Angelo played a great knock, but we got there. We didn't adapt (to the conditions) against Afghanistan very well, but today we were a lot better.
"Batting first is more of a challenge for us, but we set up a really good score which we were confident of defending.
"We're delighted to get through. We're a young bunch of guys and going through to the semi-finals of a World Cup is very exciting."
Skipper Eoin Morgan bounced back from his first-ball duck against Afghanistan to contribute 22 in a 74-run partnership with Buttler and he was relieved to survive a scare.
"It was a little tighter than we'd hoped given the position we started from," he said. "Our first six overs were brilliant. To take four wickets as early as we did and put Sri Lanka under pressure was fantastic.
"Given the new ball skidded on a little bit better I thought it would be difficult for our seamers, but they thrived in the conditions. We'll take a lot of confidence from tonight.
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"To replicate what we did in 2010 would be something special. I think one thing we did in that tournament was adapt really well. If we continue to do that as much as we have so far it'll hold us in good stead for the semi-final.
"But we can't get too far ahead of ourselves. We're into the semi-final and we'll go from there."
