We left it all out today, it’s a ruthless tournament: Jos Buttler after England beat NZ

England skipper Jos Buttler admitted that his team “left it all out” when they defeated New Zealand to resurrect their ICC T20 World Cup campaign.
Jos Buttler’s blistering 73 followed by a superb bowling effort from bowlers helped England keep their semifinals hopes alive with a 20-run win over New Zealand in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup, at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday. “I said at the toss that we didn’t think too much about the past poor performance, we have great players in the playing XI and in the squad, and we had the confidence that showed up today. We left it all out there tonight. It’s a ruthless tournament, last year South Africa went out despite having 4 wins out of 5 games,” Jos Buttler said in a post-match presentation.
After losing to Ireland and having a match against Australia abandoned due to inclement weather, England’s game against New Zealand in Brisbane carried a lot of weight. Their chances of making it to the semi-finals would have been hanging by a thread if they had lost, but Buttler took the lead with the bat after deciding to bat first, smashing 73 off 47 balls.
“You don’t become a bad team overnight. We had one poor performance but we have some good players, some dangerous players and lots of confidence in the group too,” he said.
“This is a World Cup, there will be pressure and the best teams do thrive under it. We bat deep, I thought the wicket was a little bit tricky, especially against spin and I thought Alex Hales played a fine hand, it’s all about partnerships, one day he gets going, and some other day it’ll be my turn,” he added.
Buttler became the highest-run scorer for England in the T20I format. The batter accomplished this record during his side’s crucial Group 1, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Brisbane.
In the match, Buttler struck a delightful 73 of 47 balls. After disappointing in two matches, England’s star played a vital knock and formed an 81-run stand for the first wicket with Alex Hales (52).
He has overtaken former England captain Eoin Morgan. In 100 matches, Buttler has 2,468 runs at an average of 33.80. He has scored a century and 18 half-centuries in the format. His best score in T20Is is 101*.
Morgan, who retired from international cricket in June this year, had scored 2,458 runs at an average of 28.58 in 107 innings in 115 matches. He scored 14 half-centuries in the format and the best individual score was 91.
“It’s nice at the end of a career when you look back at things on an individual level (on going past Eoin Morgan as the highest scorer for England in T20Is). The game was shaped in different ways, facing spin was tough, we wanted to be flexible with both bat and ball – the way Moeen bowled that fantastic first over, he put New Zealand under a lot of pressure,” said the England batter.
Buttler began his innings cautiously, averaging just under one run per ball in the opening half while Hales led the charge at the other end. Hales scored the majority of the 81 runs scored by the England openers during their opening stand.
When Hales was caught by Devon Conway off the bowling of Mitchell Santner for a well-made 52 from 40 deliveries, the partnership was broken.
“The game was shaped in different ways, facing spin was tough, we wanted to be flexible with both bat and ball – the way Moeen bowled that fantastic first over, he put New Zealand under a lot of pressure. Hales played brilliantly, we know what he is capable of. You need to be patient in T20 cricket, you need to keep backing guys. It’s important to keep pushing them and keep encouraging them,” said the England skipper.