Jos Buttler, England’s captain, said that India was the superior team in the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final in Guyana on Thursday.
After losing to India in the semi-finals, England skipper Jos Buttler confessed that Men in Blue “outplayed” his team and that the Rohit Sharma-led side deserved to reach the ICC T20 World Cup final because they played well on a “challenging surface.”
India is going to crash South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup. The duel between the two undefeated teams has been scheduled for Saturday. The Indian team defeated England by 68 runs at Providence Stadium in Guyana.
Buttler’s Team Fails To Perform in Crucial Match
The Indian spinners took revenge after carrying the brunt of England’s threat. The Indian squad avenged their 10-wicket setback at the hands of England, putting the 2022 nightmare behind them for good.
The England captain said that his team allowed India to score 20-25 runs and were “outbowled” by the Men in Blue’s bowlers, adding that the toss did not play a big role in the match’s outcome.
Buttler also praised India for playing a “good game of cricket,” noting that he would not anticipate conditions to change significantly following the rain. “India outclassed us. We gave them 20-25 runs too much. They performed admirably on a difficult playing surface,”
“India deserves recognition for its very different situation (compared to 2022). They played an excellent game of cricket. With the rain, I didn’t anticipate the circumstances to alter significantly. I don’t think it did. They outbowled us,” Buttler stated during the post-match presentation.
Buttler Praises Their Bowling
“Our two lads, Rashid and Livingstone, bowled brilliantly. In retrospect, Moeen should’ve been bowled the way the spinners were bowling. We are quite proud of everyone’s efforts. We remained together, but fell short when it counted the most,” he said, confessing his mistake.
Buttler recognized India’s power on the Guyana surface and praised the Men in Blue’s “fantastic spinner” for taking six wickets. England’s skipper praised his team’s efforts throughout the tournament, adding that despite facing “lots of adversity throughout the competition,” they overcame them as a group to play some very outstanding cricket in parts.
“They have some great spinners. They had an above-par total, and with such a strong bowling attack, the chase was always going to be challenging. With everything that’s transpired throughout the tournament, I’m incredibly pleased with everyone’s efforts to be here,”
“You can only play with those that are presented in front of you. We’ve faced a lot of challenges during the campaign, but we remained together as a bunch and played some very outstanding cricket in parts before falling short when it counted the most,” he said.
India Steals the Big Show
Coming into the contest, India won 171/7 thanks to Rohit Sharma‘s fifty and Suryakumar Yadav’s aggressive cameos at Providence Stadium. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja’s late flourish also helped.
The Three Lions came out roaring while pursuing the goal of 172, hoping to protect their title, but the unblemished Indian team proved too much of a struggle for the reigning champions.
With England scoring at a healthy rate of more than 8, hopes for the 2022 World Cup semi-final began to grow among Indian fans.
Buttler and Phil Salt got off to a good start, but Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah split the top order. At that moment, England were 72/7, requiring 100 runs from their last 46 balls.
It was all over for the reigning champions when Jofra Archer was ruled out lbw to Japrit Bumrah after making a superb 21 off 15 balls, concluding England’s innings for 103.