Visakhapatnam
“They certainly outplayed us,” Buttler admitted during the post-match presentation. “I think maybe we let them get 20-25 runs too many. That was a challenging surface that they played well on. But they outplayed us and fully deserved the win.”
Morning rain delayed the start of play and caused interruptions in India’s innings. England opted to persist with a seam-heavy line-up, despite the surface favoring spin. The spin duo of Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid was more effective, conceding just 49 runs in eight overs compared to 120 runs in 12 overs by the quick bowlers.
“With everything that’s happened throughout the whole tournament, we’re really proud of everyone’s efforts to be here”
Jos Buttler
“Obviously, they’ve got some fantastic spinners,” Buttler remarked. “Our two guys bowled well, but in hindsight, I should have brought Moeen [on] in that innings, with the way that the spin was playing.
“Obviously with the rain around in those conditions, I probably didn’t think it was going to change that much,” he added. “And I actually don’t think it really did. I thought they out-bowled us. They had an above-par score. So I don’t think necessarily the toss was the difference between the teams.”
“Two years on, in different conditions, it’s very different,” Buttler reflected on the team’s changed fortunes. “Credit to India, they played a really good game of cricket and they deserve the win.
“With everything that’s happened throughout the whole tournament, we’re really proud of everyone’s efforts to be here,” he added, highlighting their perseverance despite facing adversity during the competition.
“You can only play who’s put in front of you. We’ve had lots of adversity throughout the competition. We’ve stuck together well as a group, and played some really good cricket in patches but came up short when we needed it most.”
