Eoin Morgan hailed Jos Buttler after his “outstanding” century guided England to a tense one-wicket win over Australia for an ODI series whitewash.
Australia looked set to salvage some pride with a consolation victory in the final match of the series at Old Trafford when it reduced England to 114 for 8 after being set 206 to win.
Buttler and Adil Rashid (20) combined for a ninth-wicket stand of 81 and Jake Ball frustrated the tourist after coming in with 14 needed from 25 balls.
A cover drive from the magnificent Buttler made it 5-0 to England and captain Morgan was full of praise for the wicketkeeper-batsman, who was named Man of the Series after finishing with an unbeaten 110. “When he plays like that he creates a lot of belief in the changing room that rubs off,” Morgan said. “He’s used all his experience and he’s somehow managed to get us over the line. It’s outstanding.
“Could anybody else in the side have done it? Probably not. But it shows the fight and the character we have in the locker when we need it.”
‘Enjoyable’
Buttler savoured the moment that he hit the winning runs and said the victory was sweeter given England looked to be heading for defeat. “It was pure elation,” Buttler said. “You’ll probably never match that. I knew I had to be there at the end. Then plucking it from nowhere with one wicket left when we didn’t really have the right to win the game… it was very enjoyable. Winning games when you didn’t deserve to, they’re almost the more enjoyable ones.”