Twitter Reactions: England restricted to 159 depite Jos Buttler's blitz

Jos Buttler was exceptional on his part but none of the other batsmen could lend him proper support.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar

Updated - 03 Jul 2018, 23:53 IST

2 Min Read

The much-awaited contest between India and England got underway at the Old Trafford in Manchester. As expected the visitors gave tough times to the in-form outfit. Kuldeep Yadav spun a web around their batsmen and bamboozled them with the variations. He looked almost unplayable on a flat pitch which was baking under the sun. But Jos Buttler continued his scintillating form and somehow powered his team to a fighting total of 159.

Virat Kohli rode his luck at the toss and opted to field first. Jason Roy and Buttler opened the innings for the hosts as the former began well by scoring 11 runs off the first over. But India had come out with a plan against each of their batsman which was clearly visible and accordingly, Roy played on a pacy delivery from Umesh Yadav. Meanwhile, his partner had got into his groove and Hardik Pandya was the man to suffer. After troubling Alex Hales in his first couple of overs, he was taken for 18 runs.

Buttler got to his half-century off just 29 balls and continued his great run in the shortest format of the game. But what followed at the other end was least expected albeit for England fans. Kuldeep’s chinaman deliveries were already putting Hales into trouble and he eventually got out to him around his legs in the 12th over.

Game-changing over

But his next over proved to be game-changing. Eoin Morgan miscued a heave which was taken by Virat at long-off even as he sent back Jonny Bairstow with his googly. The flighted delivery brought the batsman forward which ripped past the outside edge of the bat and MS Dhoni did the rest. The fun for the bowler didn’t stop here as Joe Root was also floored by his googly to affect the similar dismissal. The Old Trafford was left buzzing thanks to the wonderful support for the visitors.

Despite all the action at the other end, Buttler was committed as he kept the run-scoring as he got a decent support from David Willey. But the in-form batsman became the fifth scalp of Kuldeep to give him his maiden five-wicket haul in the T20Is. He ended his spell with the magical figures of 5/24.

Only Buttler played well for the home side as he went on to score 69 off just 46 balls with 8 fours and a couple of maximums. England could only manage to post a total of 159 runs after 20 overs courtesy of a quickfire knock from Willey in the last few overs. Umesh Yadav also bowled well on his comeback and supported the spinner well.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the course of the innings:

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