Jos Buttler is one of the finest and most explosive batsmen for England.
He played his first debut T20 match against India in 2011. His first ODI debut was against Pakistan in 2012. In the year 2014, he was brought into the Test squad after the poor performance by Matt Prior.
Buttler’s first Test debut was against India on 27th July 2014. He’s always one of the greatest players for the England side. His explosive batting style made him guide his side as a vice-captain for the T20 format.
Way back in 2016, he captained the England team for the ODI series against Bangladesh.
In celebration of his 29th birthday (8 September), let’s revisit the five most blistering and best knocks that he played over the years.
150 against West Indies at St George’s in Grenada, 2019
The fourth ODI of England versus West Indies tour that happened at St George’s is so far one of the most thrilling and entertaining matches this year. 46 sixes were hit in that match by both the sides.
24 sixes by England (of which 12 came from Buttler’s bat) and 22 sixes by the West Indies.
Talking about the Buttlershow, it was England batting first. JM Bairstow and Alex Hales gave England a spectacular start. However, the talk of the town was all about the Buttler, who made the West Indies players watch like spectators on the field.
He scored a quickfire 150 in just 76 balls, of which he hit 13 fours and 12 sixes. This is his highest ODI score so far.
After scoring his half-century in 45 balls, he took just 31 balls in addition to reach his 150-mark which is incredible from any batsman. Later, Eoin Morgan also joined the party by scoring 103, where the Buttler-Morgan pair shared a record partnership of 204 coming from just 124 balls.
And England posed a total of 418/6, which is still the highest score scored in that ground.
The West Indies tried fighting back under Chris Gayle’s shadow but didn’t last long after his wicket. The storm took away the victory from the West Indies and the spectators could only manage 389 on the board. England sealed a victory in that match, winning by 29 runs.
129 against New Zealand at Edgbaston in Birmingham, 2015
This was the first ODI of England versus New Zealand at Edgbaston. After batting first, England posted a total of 408. On the other side, New Zealand was chasing a colossal total but could only manage scoring a mediocre 198 all-out, which made England win by a huge margin of 210 runs.
After Hales got out for his run-a-ball 20, Joe Root began the show for England by scoring a century (103 of 78 balls). Root took England to a better position in that match but New Zealand collapsed England from 171/2 to 202/6.
To fix this, they need someone aggressive to change the game. And it came in the form of Buttler. New Zealand was never prepared to see this after he bashed New Zealand’s dreams of victory in that match by scoring an outrageous 129 of 77 deliveries.
Out of his 129 runs, he scored 13 fours and five sixes. He reached his first 50 in 42 balls and the next 50 in 24 balls. Adil Rashid also joined the party along with Buttler and created a world-record seventh-wicket partnership which took England to a fine total, which made a Blackcaps victory look impossible even before they started to chase.
121 against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in London, 2014
There’s always something special about this stadium – Lord’s in London. Here we have seen some amazing matches and amazing knocks, and one of the knocks was Jos Buttler’s 121 against Sri Lanka in 2014. He was given the man of the match award for his impeccable hundred.
Buttler scored 121 of 74 deliveries out of which he scored 11 boundaries and four sixes. Though his century did not quite help England to get a victory in the chase of 300, he entertained the crowd with his multitudinous shots and variations.
It was always a nightmare for any bowler to bowl to an explosive batsman like him, as he can create his own room to let the bowl traverse between the gaps of two fielders in ease. It was not England’s night that time though, but it’s also not Nuwan Kulasekara’s night, as he conceded 53 runs of his last four overs that he bowled to Jos Buttler.
All those runs came from the blades of Buttler’s bat. But England lost that match by seven runs after he got run-out in last over by Lasith Malinga. However, he is always a player to watch.
116* against Pakistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai, 2015
In the four ODI match series, Pakistan won the first match by six wickets and England won the next two. In the final ODI the England side found themselves in a must-win situation and the same for Pakistan as well. It was do-or-die for both teams.
(Photo: AFP)
As England batted first, they need a good start and it came from Jason Roy’s maiden ODI century. Later, Buttler became a show-stealer. In that match, Buttler scored 116 of 52 balls of which his 100 came from just 46 balls which broke his home team’s record.
He hit eight sixes and ten fours for his 116. And England put 355 on the board after 50 overs. Chasing such a gargantuan target in 50 overs is almost improbable and this happened to be true. England won the match by 84 runs and the series as well.
110* against Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester, 2018
The low-scoring chasing games are always fascinating to watch, just like mammoth run chases. Australia already lost the series with England leading 4-0. It was the final ODI at Old Trafford.
Australia was batting first just like many old times, but collapsed quickly after Aaron Finch and Travis Head fell. Later, Alex Carey and D’Arcy Short took Australia to an acceptable level but not actually enough in a 50 overs game.
They put 205 runs on the board, which already looked affirmative for England to call it a win. It turned out to be a nightmare for England as they collapsed to 114/8, but Buttler whitewashed the Australian dreams by scoring a remarkable 110 of 122 balls.
He played calm and took his time. This is what made him one of the sensational players for the English side. He turned that game from “no way, impossible” to “yes, it is possible” and that defines Buttler.
Though there was a bit of drama, the spectators witnessed entertainment and a true masterstroke from this man. England sealed that series with a 5-0 lead.
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