England registered a thrilling 1-wicket victory in the fifth and final ODI at Old Trafford, Manchester on Sunday (June 24) to claim a historic ODI whitewash over Australia.
Set just 206 to win by the defending world champions, England had slumped to 27/4 in 7.4 before Jos Buttler’s heroics rescued the hosts. When England were tottering at 114/8, Buttler convinced the tailenders (Adil Rashid and Jake Ball) to stay with him, be patient and realize time was on their side.
Buttler played a measured knock of 110 not out to guide England home with 9 balls to spare. His 122-ball innings was laced with 12 boundaries and a six.
Speedster Billy Stanlake’s spell of 3/18 in 5 overs had given Australia a shot of a first international win under coach Justin Langer, but Buttler was resolute in his approach and didn’t allow the arch-rivals to clinch a win even in a dead-rubber.
The defeat makes it a run of eight consecutive international matches lost for Australia, the first time that has ever happened. It is also England’s first ever 5-0 whitewash over Australia in any format in more than 140 years of men’s international cricket.
Twitterati were in awe to see the way England snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat in Manchester.
Here are some of the tweets lauding Jos Buttler and England’s dominance throughout the series:
Thriller. An outstanding effort from England to beat the Aussies 5-0. Even though Australia were missing quite a few players, really loved the ruthlessness of this England side. Top effort today from @josbuttler for the magnificent 100 today#ENGvAUS
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) June 24, 2018
Congratulations @englandcricket on a great win and an fantastic series. Remarkable innings for England & this one is by @josbuttler ???? #ENGvAUS #Whitewash pic.twitter.com/amHATjfy3r
— Saqlain Mushtaq (@Saqlain_Mushtaq) June 24, 2018
114/8 chasing 205. And then Jos Bossed the match....what an innings. Top class century. And the English dominance in the series was admirable. #ENGvAUS
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 24, 2018
What an incredible finish by @ECB_cricket when they were written off. Take a bow @josbuttler that was special #ENGVAUS
— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) June 24, 2018
@josbuttler ???????????????????????????????????????????????? #Wow #ENGvAUS
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) June 24, 2018
Well played @josbuttler ????????????????????????
— Faf Du Plessis (@faf1307) June 24, 2018
@josbuttler is very very good at cricket #FREAK
— Carlos Brathwaite (@TridentSportsX) June 24, 2018
What a Game of Cricket #ENGvsAUS top batting @josbuttler congratulations @ECB_cricket for winning the series 5-0.. Looking forward to the great series ahead #EngvsInd ???????? @SkyCricket
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) June 24, 2018
What a win for @englandcricket! @josbuttler just gets better and better!! ????????
— James Anderson (@jimmy9) June 24, 2018
Good to see England on the right side of a 5-0 result!! #engvaus