England captain Jos Buttler showed his contentment after they suffered a two-wicket loss against India at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in the second T20I on Saturday. England posted a fighting score of 165 runs on the board after impressive knocks from Jos Buttler, Jamie Smith, and Brydon Carse when they were put into bat by Suryakumar Yadav.
The England skipper top-scored with 45 runs off 30 balls whereas debutant Smith and Carse scored 22 and 31 runs respectively. However, the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals and could only manage an under-par score.
On the other hand, India also could not get the impetus in their batting innings however Tilak Varma scored an unbeaten 55-ball 72 to help his team get over the line. The left-hander scored four fours and five sixes in his match-winning knock.
Buttler was delighted with the way his team fought hard till the end despite not putting enough runs on the board.
Buttler said in the post-match presentation, “It was a great game. All credit to Tilak for getting them over the line. We created a lot of chances, really aggressive, it was great to watch everyone in action and pushed them really close. Really pleased with the way we went about with the bat. We lost a few wickets but the aggression was there that we asked for, really took the game on and got to almost nearly a defendable score.”
He added, “Really happy with the style we played. Lots of positives. Jamie Smith, on debut, playing the way he did was fantastic. Brydon Carse and all the guys there creating a lot of chances, really happy with the performances. We can always improve but we are happy with the style. They are always going to play three spinners, they are going to take some wickets. I’d much prefer if they do take wickets, we take them for some runs as well.”
The third T20I between India and England will be played at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot on Tuesday.
