Buttler acknowledges that not bowling Moeen Ali was a tactical error.

In the T20 World Cup semifinals at Providence Stadium, England captain Jos Buttler acknowledged that his team was outmatched by India. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, two of the team’s spinners, caused the reigning champions’ 171 chase to collapse, forcing Buttler to concede after the fact that he should have taken out Moeen Ali, the other spinner in his ranks.

Buttler chose to chase on a pitch that played to type, getting gradually slower and lower yet still providing turn at regular intervals. He acknowledged that India was able to score at least 20–25 runs more than what was required, which the England captain claimed was a failure in both planning and execution, even though he didn’t regret the decision made at the toss.

“A small amount of each. They played well, in my opinion, too,” Buttler remarked. “We had a few close calls there and I felt like we bowled a little bit unlucky on the power play. But, with the advantage of reflection and perspective, I believe that Moeen [Ali] would have won the game. Indeed, fragments here and there.

Yes, it is disheartening. I believe India outperformed us. They deserved to win so much. Thus, yes, I believed their score to be above average. On that pitch, I was aiming to limit them to maybe 145 or 150. From there, it was always going to be a difficult chase.”

While Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone, England’s two spinners for the day, combined to provide statistics of 1 for 49 from eight overs, their pacers gave up 120 runs in 12 overs at a rate of 10 runs per over. India, on the other hand, bowled 11 overs of spin, taking 6 wickets for just 58 runs.

The most significant blow came from Axar Patel, who removed the England captain with his opening delivery. He then went on to dismiss Jonny Bairstow and Moeen with the first delivery of his second and third overs, respectively, before Kuldeep claimed three wickets of his own to completely derail England’s chase.

Buttler remarked, “They obviously have some fantastic spinners.”

“Our two lads bowled brilliantly, but looking back, given the way the spin was going, I should have put Moeen on in that innings. “Obviously, I didn’t think it was going to change that much with the rain around in those conditions,” he continued. “And to be honest, I don’t think it did. They, in my opinion, outbowled us. They scored higher than expected. Thus, I don’t think the throw was what separated the teams,” he continued.

After losing to Guyana, Buttler’s England was unable to mount competitive enough campaigns in their two world title defences, which were eight months apart. Although England’s 50-overs campaign in India late last year was doomed from the start, they did defeat only one Test team in this tournament, the West Indies, and they nearly lost the rain-affected match against Namibia before rallying to win when the weather cleared.

“Certainly, I consider it an accomplishment to make it to a World Cup semi-final. Of course, we wanted to go all the way. That was the reason we arrived here. Throughout the entire tournament, we encountered many difficulties and misfortunes, but we persevered and performed well enough to reach this point. But regrettably, we’ve fallen short thus far.

Also Read: “Outdone” I wish Buttler had bowled Moeen on that deteriorating Providence pitch.

“I go back to our meeting in Leeds. Although we haven’t played well enough and I believe that everyone has improved, I think that our preparation, training, and in-between-the-pitches work has been excellent. Additionally, the team has a wealth of talent. And sure, under these circumstances we faced a very good team today.

“To be really honest, all I’m excited for is some time off from the game. Currently, I don’t think I need to go too far into it [thinking back on the tournament and the future] as I sit here feeling dejected after losing. All I want is some time away from the game.”