as Buttler refused to blame the rain, or ‘gamemanship’, for England’s shocking defeat to Ireland at the T20 World Cup.
England were loose with the ball after using their opponents to bat at the MCG, but dragged things back well when Ireland dropped from 103 for one to 157.
But with the constant threat of rain, England’s response faltered and they never rose above the DLS par score, forcing the Irish to celebrate a memorable five-run victory when the match was eventually halted.
Asked if he had any trouble with the early finish, Buttler said, “Not really, it was only going to get tougher. They beat us in all three facets of the game. The better team won today.’
Ireland was two overs behind the pace when it started to rain and if Moeen had hit the next ball for six after taking twelve of three deliveries off Gareth Delany, England would have been leading the way on DLS.
“Whether it was game skill they knew the rain was coming, so the game slowed down a little bit, but I think we lost the game by that point,” Buttler added.
“We had everything in our favor and if we were ahead of DLS they wouldn’t have slowed down the game, so I think we have to take responsibility ourselves.”
Buttler had chosen to give chase, knowing a revised equation could be at stake, but felt the advantage of that decision was wasted early on in Melbourne.
There was a lack of discipline in helpful bowling conditions in the first half of the Irish innings, with Andy Balbirnie leading his team to 92 for one.
“In the first ten overs with the ball we were bad, far from where we needed to be and let Ireland get away,” said Buttler.
“We weren’t consistent enough, we let them score on both sides of the wicket in some favorable bowling conditions.
“Everything was in our favour, we won the toss and chose to field, knowing the weather was close. We did not use that.
“We’re letting Ireland get 20 or 30 too many in those first ten. They showed us how to bowl that wicket.’
Asked to bat, Ireland ran to 103 for one, but three wickets each to Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone wrestled the initiative back.
England dropped to 86 for five in response and while Moeen Ali’s 24 didn’t offer hope from 12 balls, a downpour put an end to any chance of getting above the DLS par.
“We didn’t perform well enough,” Buttler said. “We dragged it back, but that put a lot of pressure on us.
“Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali had only a few balls to deal with, two guys with tremendous strength and finishing ability. Is there any way we could have involved them more if we knew the game would be shorter?
“(But) we were a long way from where we had to be right the whole game and Ireland deserved to win.”
Balbirnie’s New Golden Generation
Skipper Andy Balbirnie believes his Irish side could be a new ‘golden generation’ after their win over England.
“It’s surreal, an absolutely surreal feeling,” Balbirnie said.
“We came into this round knowing that any win we would get would be a huge achievement and we have beaten the best T20 team out there in my opinion.
“I watched their team this morning and part of me struggled to understand how we could compete with them if they showed up.”
Speaking of the transitional shift from the previous generation of giant killers, which also shocked England at the 2011 World Cup, he added: “We knew we had to get rid of such players.
“Guys have come in and have shown that not only that generation is a golden generation.”
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