GEORGE DOBELL IN ADELAIDE: England crushed India by 10 wickets, with Buttler remarking on the turnaround from 2015 when England were eliminated in the group stages
Jos Buttler has declared himself "immensely proud" of his England side, as they cruised into the final of the men's T20 World Cup with a crushing victory over India.
England won by 10 wickets with four overs to spare as Alex Hales helped Buttler plunder a record opening partnership of 170. It was not only the highest stand of the tournament but the highest opening stand in England men's T20I history. Only a third-wicket stand of 182 between Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan against New Zealand in 2019 beats it for any wicket.
The result sets up a final against Pakistan on Sunday which some are seeing as a repeat of the 1992 World Cup final which was also played at the MCG.
It all left Buttler reflecting with pleasure on the progress England cricket has made in the years since being knocked out of the 2015 World Cup on this very ground in the group stages.
"I'm immensely proud of the guys," Buttler said. "That was a brilliant performance, by far our best performance of the tournament. To do it in such a high-pressure game is immensely satisfying.
Alex Hales starred with the bat for England [Mark Kolbe/Getty Images]
"We've got some brilliant players in our team and when they play their best, they're a tough team to beat. We're an incredibly dangerous side, huge confidence in the group, we haven't at points played as well as we could do in the tournament yet still find ourselves in the semi-final of a World Cup and saved our best performance so far for today.
"It was a little bit different to seven years ago, wasn't it? It's sort of justification for the change in white-ball cricket we've seen in England. And for the way we've developed players and that level of expectation that we have as a group."
Buttler was especially full of praise for Hales, who led the way with an unbeaten innings of 86 from 47 balls. It meant his three most recent innings have been 52, 47 and 86 not out, justifying his recall to the side after more than three years on the sidelines.
"He's delivered in spades," Buttler said. "He's immensely tough to bowl at. It was fantastic to be at the other end and watch him go about his business with such a wide range of shots. He played the dimensions of the ground fantastically well."
While his stand with Hales was the most eye-catching aspect of the victory, Buttler was keen to point out the contribution of his bowlers. England conceded just 38 for 1 off the powerplay and, after 13 overs of their innings, India had scored a modest 80 for 3. Even though India hit 88 from the final seven overs of their innings, Buttler always felt their score was within range.
"Give credit to our bowlers," Buttler said. "I thought they bowled exceptionally well. We got the ball to move and to take a wicket early and that powerplay was was fantastic.
Buttler was full of praise for England's bowlers, particularly Adil Rashid [Sarah Reed/Getty Images]
"The way India played towards the end of their innings just showed what a good wicket it was. I was always confident in the wicket. We wanted to chase as we weren't sure exactly what would be a good score.
"Adil Rashid led the attack fantastically well. He looked like taking a wicket every over. And for Chris Jordan to come into the side and bowl three overs at the end is an immense effort. People may look at the figures and think he's gone for 10 an over but he's probably performed above the level of what we could expect."
Delighted though Buttler was, he did urge his team not to "get to far ahead" of themselves, pointing out that "the biggest game of the tournament" was still ahead of them.
"It's important we enjoy the performance this evening," Buttler said. "But of course we mustn't get too far ahead of ourselves. There's still the biggest game of the tournament to come.
"But it's going to be an amazing occasion. Semi-finals and finals… these are the games you want to be involved in. You don't come down this road very often. So it's certainly something to be relished and enjoyed. I just encourage us to play with the same freedom that we showed tonight."