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The series against Team India is turning out to be a story of missed chances for England`s Jos Buttler and his side as they yet again fell short of dominating the “Men in Blue.”
The Englishmen lost the ODI series opener against India as Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer brought their “A-game” at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium.
The “Three Lions” even lost the five-match T20I series by 1-4 against India.
In the first ODI, England made a good start by reaching 70-odd runs without loss in the power-play before they made a hash of things and lost wickets in a cluster to be bowled out for 248.
They then have another opportunity to take control of the situation after reducing India to 19/2, getting out Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal cheaply.
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But Shubman Gill (87) and Shreyas Iyer (59) added 94 runs for the third wicket to take back the initiative. Gill and Axer Patel then propelled India towards victory.
England captain Jos Butler expressed disappointment as his team failed to exploit the situation once again after getting two opportunities.
“Disappointed not to win the game. Thought we got off to a fantastic start in the powerplay. The openers got off to a great start but to lose four wickets was frustrating. Extra 40-50 runs would have been crucial,” said Buttler during the presentation ceremony after the match.
England lost wickets in a cluster after a good start provided by Phil Salt (43) and Ben Duckett (32). “That is not how we want to play. We want to put the opposition under pressure and keep the momentum,” said Jos Buttler.
Jos Buttler later stated that it was predictable for his side as to how things were going in the series as far as pace bowling was concerned.
“Guys started well, they were 20 for 2. At that point, the game`s in the balance, if we could have found a way to take a wicket there, but Gill and Iyer put on a good partnership.
“We want to play better really for longer, we have shown in stages that we are doing the right thing. When we have the momentum, we want to try and extend that longer,” said Buttler.
Jos Buttler hopes that the second ODI at Cuttack ends in their favour to keep the series alive.
(With IANS Inputs)
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