Jos Buttler, England’s captain, expressed his deep disappointment following their loss against India in the recent high-stakes match. At the halfway stage, with a target of 230 to chase and considering the dewy conditions, Buttler and his team were confident, but the familiar tale of falling short haunted them once again.
Buttler shared his thoughts on their bowling performance, acknowledging the team’s commendable effort with the ball. He highlighted their ability to create pressure, take wickets, and restrict the opposition. Chasing 230, there wasn’t significant scoreboard pressure, allowing them to focus on navigating the challenging phases of the game.
Personally, Buttler aimed to absorb pressure and build partnerships to shift the momentum in England’s favor. However, the team struggled to execute their plans effectively, leaving them frustrated and searching for answers.
Reflecting on their fielding, Buttler commended the excellent start in the powerplay, where their bowlers found movement and the ground fielding was sharp. Despite a promising beginning, the inability to sustain the momentum with the bat proved costly.
Addressing the looming Champions Trophy 2025 qualification, Buttler emphasized their awareness of the situation. He stated that there is still much to play for, indicating the team’s determination to bounce back and give their best in the upcoming matches.
Very disappointed. At the halfway stage, chasing 230 and seeing how wet it got, we fancied ourselves, same old story. I wasn’t sure if dew would come or not. Just the gut feel said that we wanted to chase. That’s as good as we’ve been with the ball throughout the tournament. We created good pressure, we bowled well, took wickets. If you said we are chasing 230, we would have been happy with that. Personally, I wanted to try and soak some pressure up, come through that phase and then build a partnership and sot of kill the momentum that India had. It’s about committing and executing your skill. Chasing 230, there wasn’t scoreboard pressure. It’s about trying to come through that phase. We are just falling short whichever way we are doing it at the minute. Our answers on a postcard, I think. Some top players and we are a long way short of our best. Excellent start in the powerplay, the guys found some movement, there was a bit of indifferent bounce as well, the ground fielding was good. It felt like today was the day where it was all turning around, but the way we batted, didn’t back that up. (On Champions Trophy 2025 qualification) We are aware of that, we’ve still got lots to play for.
