Such was the beauty of Jos Buttler’s destruction of Pakistan bowlers that even the Pakistani supporters gave him a standing ovation when he leapt into the air with both arms raised after brutally hitting the helpless Anwar Ali over the mid wicket boundary to bring up a sensational 46-ball century.
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With the World T20 getting underway in March, Buttler thinks England are showing they can be contenders to win the tournament in India for a second time.
But since then, a new-look England have turned things around, giving a good account of themselves and beating New Zealand, the World Cup finalists, 3-2 and losing to world champions Australia by the same margin.
Babar Azam (51) and Shoaib Malik (52) kept their side in the hunt with brisk half-centuries, but when the latter became the sixth batsman out, with 128 still required, Pakistan had too much to do.
However, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid took three wickets each as the hosts fell away. Azam and Hafeez added 65 for the third wicket while Azam added 47 for the fourth with Malik but that was never enough to overhaul a stiff target.
Buttler, who made an unbeaten 49 to help seal victory in the third ODI, was promoted two places up the order to number four by captain Eoin Morgan in Dubai. “He’s played really well in the last two series and he really wanted that hundred”. It was just absolutely incredible – certainly the best one-day knock I’ve ever seen in an England shirt.
The platform was set perfectly for the batsmen to come as Jos Buttler made sure that they finished the innings well as he scored a magnificent century.
Taylor, who at 5 foot, 2 inches (1.6 metres) is the shortest player around, said facing Pakistan paceman Mohammad Irfan – the tallest-ever to play cricket at 7 feet, 1 inch (2.2 m) – was amusing.
Pakistan were bowled out for 271, handing England an 84-run win and 3-1 series triumph.
After a disastrous campaign in the 2015 World Cup, England have improved by leaps and bounds by changing their approach to the game.
In all, Buttler clobbered eight sixes and 10 boundaries to pulverize Pakistan’s bowling.
Waqar also voiced his confidence that there was “nothing wrong” with the third one-day worldwide against England in Sharjah amid reports the match is under investigation over possible suspicious betting patterns. Although Buttler rightly gained the headlines and man of the match plaudits, without the Surrey opener’s well-paced 102 in partnership with the dependable Joe Root (71), we might not have been privileged to witness the magnificence later on. Roy took a single off leg-spinner Yasir Shah to complete the three-figure mark off 113 balls but two runs later was caught off the same bowler.
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His century off forty six deliveries broke his personal England report and he hit eight sixes – one other national greatest – and 10 fours.
