England cricket team captain Jos Buttler admitted that they were outplayed by a superior Indian side in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday.
Defending champions England lost their way chasing a stiff target and were beaten convincingly by the Indian cricket team by 68 runs at Guyana.
“India outplayed us and fully deserved a win,” Buttler acknowledged at the post-match press conference. “(It was) 20-25 runs too many on a challenging surface but credit to India.”
Batting first, captain Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav led the charge with a crucial partnership to lay the foundation for India’s competitive total of 171/7.
Buttler, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, opted to field first as persistent rains delayed the start of the match at the Providence Stadium and he expected the pitch also to play the same throughout.
“With the rain around and these conditions, I probably didn’t think it was going to change that much. I actually don't think it really did, they outbowled us.
“As I said they had an above-par score, so I don't necessarily think that the toss was the difference between the two teams. With a brilliant Indian bowling attack, it was always going to be a tough chase,” Butter said.
England collapsed after a good start as the Indian spinners picked up six wickets among them with Axar Patel doing the damage early in the powerplay.
Buttler also felt he could have used his spin options in a better way on a slow and low surface. Moeen Ali, one of England’s slower bowlers, did not bowl in the match.
“Our two guys (spinners) bowled well (Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid). Again in hindsight, should have bowled Moeen in that innings with the way that spin was playing,” Buttler confessed.
With four consecutive appearances in the last four T20 World Cups, including two finals, Buttler mentioned that he was proud of the efforts put in by this English side.
“With everything that has happened throughout the whole tournament, I am really proud of everyone’s effort to be here. You can only play who is put in front of you
“We had lots of adversities throughout the competition, we stuck well together as a group and played some really good cricket in patches, but came up short when it mattered the most,” Buttler concluded.
India will meet South Africa in the finals of the T20 World Cup at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.