England’s wicketkeeper-batter, Jos Buttler, continued his scintillating form with the bat in white-ball cricket after the IPL 2022, as the star batter smashed yet another brilliant century to help England register a record ODI win over the Netherlands on Friday (June 17).
He hit a 47-ball century and eventually made 162* off just 70 balls with 14 sixes and seven fours to help England defeat Netherlands by 232 runs in the first of three one-day internationals.
Buttler has been having the best phase of his career in white-ball cricket for the past few months, having first amassed 863 runs in the IPL 2022 to lead Rajasthan Royals (RR) to the final, and now excelling in the ODI series against the Netherlands.
After the match, the star England batter said that he credited IPL 2022 for his remarkable knock and said that playing in the IPL has really helped him build his confidence coming into the home summer.
Jos Buttler said after the match: “The IPL couldn't have gone better for me. I absolutely loved it, and that gives you a lot of confidence. Coming here I was feeling in good touch: I turned up with a lot of motivation and freshness which I think is really key.”
On England’s white-ball setup, the star cricketer said: “I've said many times, this is the most fun environment I've ever played in, so it's great to be back and it's been great to be on a normal tour and being able not to worry about bubbles and that kind of thing.”
Buttler was sent to bat at number four in the first ODI, and the batter said that he is happy to play in the middle-order in the ODIs for England.
He added, “Over the years, when we've got off to good starts, I've sometimes been pushed up to No. 4 and today we got off to a fantastic start with Salt and Malan. We're pretty flexible as a group and if that's what they want to do on the day. I enjoy that middle-order role in one-day cricket so I'm very happy with the role I've got.”
Buttler also spoke about England's goal of achieving the 500 mark in ODIs, which they missed by just two runs on Friday.
“We've come close one time before this and the message in the team is to try to keep pushing boundaries and taking the team forward, take the game on. Is it a matter of time before we make 500? I don't know. We'll keep trying to do it. It's a tough thing to try to achieve. It'll probably have to happen on a belting wicket at a small ground,”
“I think the biggest thing, irrelevant of the score, is the mentality we are showing as a team. We keep trying to better that and be better as a team when we play. We know that stands us in good stead.”
(Reuters / Times Now inputs)
