ICC Champions Trophy: England won’t give Australia easy ride, says Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler, who was a part of England’s Champions Trophy side in 2013 that beat Australia at the same stage and at the same Edgbaston ground, added there would be no let-up in Birmingham from him and his team-mates despite securing their place in the last four.
Jos Buttler says England will not flinch in the face of some aggressive Australian bowling in their Champions Trophy group match on Saturday, and will hopefully deal a blow to their old rivals’ title hopes.
The 26-year-old wicketkeeper -- who along with Joe Root and captain Eoin Morgan survived from the 2013 Champions Trophy side that beat Australia at the same stage and at the same Edgbaston ground -- added there would be no let-up in Birmingham from him and his team-mates despite securing their place in the last four.
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Buttler, who scored an invaluable 61 not out in England’s 87-run win over New Zealand on Tuesday to clinch their semi-final spot, claimed the England players were thinking more of maintaining their momentum than potentially eliminating Australia.
The Australians -- who have been bedevilled by the weather with two no results against Bangladesh and New Zealand -- could still go through depending on the outcome of the other group game between the Kiwis and the Bangladeshis.
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“We won’t think too much about it... but it is always nice to know that would be the outcome if we did win,” said Buttler.
“We now know we have qualified for the semi-finals, but we want to be going into a semi-final on the back of a win -- and we’ll be desperate to do that on Saturday.”
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Buttler, who hopes Saturday’s game will be remembered more for its cricket than was the case in 2013 when Australian opener David Warner punched Root in a Birmingham bar, said any match with Australia was always a big occasion no matter what was at stake.
“Of course... any England-Australia game is a huge game,” he said.
“Both sides are very aggressive, attacking teams. We will not change our style of cricket. We’ll keep trying to take them on.
“They’ve got some good pace bowlers, but we’ll try and be aggressive with the bat as well.”
