Jos Buttler hailed Jofra Archer as a captain’s dream after watching him deliver every time he was thrown the ball in the final ODI against South Africa.
England’s triumph by 59 runs was built on the back of high quality hundreds from both Buttler and Dawid Malan, but required the X-Factor skills of Archer with the ball to get them over the line. Archer’s 6-40 were his best figures in an England shirt to date, but it was the way he was able to pin the Proteas back at first and then snuff out their fightback late on that had Buttler purring with delight after the game.
“I think it was a really good performance,” said Buttler. “It was a fantastic partnership between myself and Dawid to get us up to that score. And then Jofra's performance was outstanding. Every time you turned to him to try and take a wicket, he managed to do that.
“The game was probably in the balance there during the partnership with Klaasen and Parnell so for Jofra to come back and pick up that wicket straight away was fantastic. It’s great to get a win because we’ve been playing some really good cricket in this series and we were disappointed not to win it, but we have ended on a high.
“There are lots of things to be really pleased about and the return of Jofra Archer to international cricket is one of the really good things to happen on this tour.”
Despite the 2-1 scoreline Buttler knows the grand scheme of a World Cup defence means there are other areas he can be happy with. If Archer’s return to fitness and health is the biggest tick, then the hundreds scored by Malan and Jason Roy are another two to add.
Olly Stone’s bowling in two matches was a useful reminder of his quality, while Adil Rashid remains a big wicket-taking threat. At the same time, Reece Topley and Chris Woakes struggled to make an impact, while it is hard to see how David Willey makes it to India and the World Cup squad.
“I don't know about marks out of ten but certainly we've had some really good things happen such as the hundreds scored and impressive performances from Olly Stone,” added Buttler.
“There is that big picture view as well and here are lots of things to be really pleased about and a few guys as well pushing on the outside, some players still to come back. Recent results aside, it's still a healthy picture.”
Meanwhile, England have named their squads for ODI and T20 series in Bangladesh in March.
Uncapped Somerset batter Tom Abell is named in both squads, while Rehan Ahmed earns his first call-up to the ODI squad.
ODI Squad: Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Tom Abell (Somerset), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
T20 Squad: Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Tom Abell (Somerset), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).
