Jos Buttler was the mastermind and the master technician as England ripped up both rulebook and form guide in Brisbane to derail New Zealand’s runaway train and reignite their own hopes of winning the T20 World Cup. A game they could not afford to lose was won by 20 runs and will allow them to head for Sydney and their final fixture against Sri Lanka with confidence high and the semi-finals in their sights.
When Buttler won the toss and chose to bat first – a common enough decision by captains across this tournament but one he has rarely come to – it was an indication that he was approaching this game with a fresh outlook. And having hauled his team towards a total of 179 with an innings of 73 off 47 balls – though he was dropped twice, on eight and on 40 – he led them on to the field and produced a display of captaincy that fed to the shredder a template he has often followed to the letter.
