Spot in semi-finals all but firmed up; Sri Lanka will need a near-miracle
On an uncompromising Sharjah surface – slow, low and nigh on impossible to force the pace – Buttler somehow conjured a masterful 101 not out from 67 balls, riding out one of the most fallow passages of play in England’s T20I history to batter 51 runs from his final 22, including the last of his six sixes, a flick off the hips high over square leg to reach his landmark on the final ball of the innings.
At the halfway mark of England’s innings, the team’s faces were threatening to look as red as their new-look trousers – a switch from their usual navy-blue due to an ICC kit-clash regulation. After losing their first toss in four games and being obliged to set the tempo rather than chase in the dew, they had dribbled along to 47 for 3, their lowest ten-over total since that tournament nadir against the Netherlands in Chittagong in 2014.
There really wasn’t much that England dared to do to break the shackles. Maheesh Theekshana, flicking the ball out of the front of his hand, offered no width and oodles of stump-threatening skid, backed up by an excellent pitch-battering length from the seamers, which was too short for England to rush down to meet, and bouncing low enough to keep the stumps permanently in play.
Post-drinks flourish
A glug of Gatorade, and a thumping drive through the covers, brought Buttler only his third boundary in 31 balls. But it also signalled a fateful shift in Sri Lanka’s approach. As if pre-programmed to go to their pre-set death plans, the seamers began searching for a fuller length, right up to the toes, which suited Buttler’s spring-loaded wrists down to the ground. A brace of half-volleys from Lahiru Kumara were smoked into the stands, before Dasun Shanaka suffered similar treatment in the 18th over, as Buttler laced him for six, six, four, to wrench the contest England’s way.
The search for that century wasn’t Buttler’s over-riding concern as he faced up to Dushmantha Chameera’s final over. But after surviving a sprawling chance in the deep and missing out on an attempted reverse scoop, Buttler received the gimme he’d been angling for from the final ball of the innings, a full toss on the legs that he launched into the stands to vault from 95 to 101.
More to follow
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket