Eoin Morgan praised Jos Buttler saying that he is in a league of his own right now and that there is no better player in the limited-overs format than him.
In the first ODI of the three-match series against the Netherlands on Friday, Buttler, the English wicketkeeper-batsman, was in sublime form. The 31-year-old smashed the second-fastest 150 runs in 50-over cricket and remained unbeaten on 162 runs from just 70 balls. During his time at the crease, he hit 7 fours and 14 sixes.
Eoin Morgan on Jos Buttler
Buttler said he couldn’t have had a better season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and that he came into the ODI in good form. He felt he came into the IPL with a lot of motivation to get the best out of himself after not playing cricket for two months following the T20 World Cup and the Ashes.
“The last couple of days have been great. Feels good to be among this group. To post a big score like that and then Jos coming in at the end and he is in a world of his own, it is absolutely amazing – probably the reason why he is the best white-ball cricketer in the world,” Eoin Morgan said.
“It’s great when the guys come in and play with the mantra we’ve been playing for the past six years.” We haven’t played much 50-over cricket recently, so it’ll be important to get some practise in before the World Cup in India next year,” he added.
Even though they lost their opener Jason Roy early, England’s batters were relentless from the start, adding 222 runs for the second wicket with Dawid Malan and opener Phil Salt. Then came Buttler’s incredible hitting at No. 4 alongside Liam Livingstone’s 17-ball fifty as England set a new world record total of 498 runs.
In the second innings, the game was all but over, but the hosts put up a respectable total of 266 in 49.4 overs, with opener Max O’Dowd scoring 55 runs off 55 balls and wicketkeeper-batsman Scott Edwards scoring an unbeaten 72 off 56 balls. The second match of the three-match ODI series will be played in Amstelveen on June 19 (Sunday).
