T20 World Cup 2022: "It could be a small advantage" - Jos Buttler on England playing Group 1's last game
England captain Jos Buttler believes that playing the group's last game gives them a significant advantage over the other teams. The keeper-batter also declared their keenness to right the wrongs from the previous game.
England narrowly lost a rain-affected game to Ireland by five runs (via DLS) due to their sloppy all-round performance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Their next match against Australia on Friday, October 28, at the same venue, was then abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Speaking after the abandoned fixture against Australia, Buttler stated that the England players are raring to go. The 32-year-old conceded that while being one of the teams to play Group 1's final game is an advantage, their focus right now is beating New Zealand.
MATCH ABANDONED
❌ MATCH ABANDONED❌
England & Australia share the spoils as rain wins the day.
Onto New Zealand on Tuesday 💪
#T20WorldCup https://t.co/3j6o4LWwtS
He was quoted as saying by the Times of India:
"It could be a small advantage, but to make use of that, we need to win against New Zealand. Everyone's rested and ready to go. There's a lot of frustration as well from the last game. People want to right that performance. So, we'll train well and look forward to a tough challenge against New Zealand."
The 2010 World T20 champions still have games left against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They will be confident of beating the Lankans, whom they beat by 26 runs in the last edition in 2021.
"There's excitement to get back on the field" - Jos Buttler
Buttler also felt that Friday's washout meant they got an extended time to focus on their next game and move on from their defeat at the hands of Ireland. He added:
"I think it probably worked well both ways in our favour. Whether we had bit of time to digest it and let it hurt and sort of deal with it and and come past it. Of course, this was a huge occasion and needed full focus and attention, so you would have moved on quickly. Now we have a few days. If people need to deal with it more, you can deal with it."
Ireland win at the MCG via DLS.
Well done @cricketireland 🍀
#T20WorldCup https://t.co/sqIfwgkw7P
England will next take on New Zealand on Tuesday, November 1, at the Gabba in Brisbane.