T20 WC: Jos Buttler reveals "most important player" for England
Jun 20, 2024
Gros Islet [St Lucia], June 20 : England captain Jos Buttler had special praise in store for their unsung hero, Adil Rashid, following their imposing 8-wicket win over the co-hosts, the West Indies, in the Super 8 of the ongoing T20 World Cup.
In a game that saw Philip Salt and Jonny Bairstow earn plaudits for their influential, unbeaten knocks, Buttler heaped praise on the veteran spinner for his economic spell.
The majority of the bowlers conceded runs at an economy of more than eight, and Rashid conceded runs at just 5.20.
In his four-over spell, Rashid gave away just 21 runs and took the prized wicket of the dangerous power hitter Andre Russell.
"He has been all the time. He is our most important player. Has so many variations and restricts runs," Buttler said in the post-match presentation.
The West Indies managed to inflict two quick blows by removing Buttler and Moeen Ali. Bairstow and Salt eased the nerves with their composure and out-of-the-box shots.
After Salt raised his bat for fifty, he went berserk, smashing 30 runs in Romario Shepherd's over to completely kill the West Indies' chances of winning the game.
Their unbeaten 97-run stand took the game away from the West Indies and took England a step closer to victory.
"Bairstow-Salt partnership was very good. Jonny took the game deep and Salty broke it with that one over. Jonny batted at No. 4 today, a class player for a really long time. You keep backing class players. Incredible, mature, senior player's innings. People say you learn when you lose, but you learn when you win as well. Important to put this to bed and focus now," Buttler noted.
West Indies looked bound to put up a 200-plus score after their ruthless display in the first half of their innings. But England came back to hold them to 180/4.
Buttler was pleased to see their execution in all facets of the game and said, "That was a really good performance. We were practising well and executed well today. [Chasing 180] We bowled well to restrict a powerful batting lineup. We were smart with the bat, the guys were calculative."
England will look to seal their berth in the semi-final with a win over South Africa on Friday at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
