Disappointed after the loss against India in the semi-final, England captain Jos Buttler admitted that Men in Blue “outplayed” his team and said that the Rohit Sharma-led side deserved to reach the final of the ICC T20 World Cup as they played well on “challenging surface.” The clash between the two unbeaten sides has been set for Saturday, with India set to take on South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup after the Rohit Sharma-led side sealed a thumping 68-run win over England at Providence Stadium, Guyana.

The past was washed away by the Indian spinners who bore the brunt of England’s aggression. The 2022 nightmare became a long past after the Indian team avenged their 10-wicket defeat that came at the hands of England.

The England captain said that his team let India take away 20-25 runs and they were “outbowled” by the Men in Blue’s bowlers, admitting that the toss was not the significant factor of the outcome of the match.

Buttler also lauded India for playing a “good game of cricket,” stating he did not expect conditions to change much after the rain.

“India certainly outplayed us. We let them get 20-25 runs too many. It was a challenging surface that they played well on. They outplayed us and fully deserved the win. Very different conditions (than 2022), credit to India. They played a really good game of cricket. With the rain around, didn’t expect the conditions to change that much. Don’t think it did. They outbowled us,” Buttler said in a post-match presentation.

“Our two guys (Rashid and Livingstone) bowled well. In hindsight, should’ve bowled Moeen the way the spin was playing, with the way spinners were bowling. We are really proud of everyone’s effort. We stuck together, came up short when it mattered the most,” he added, admitting to his blunder.

Buttler acknowledged India’s superiority on the Guyana surface and applauded the Men in Blue’s “fantastic spinner” who took away six wickets. England captain hailed his team for their efforts throughout the tournament saying that they had “lots of adversities throughout the competition” they still overcame it as a group to play some really good cricket in patches.

“They had an above-par score. I don’t think that toss was necessarily the difference between the teams. They’ve got some fantastic spinners. They had an above-par score and with a brilliant bowling attack, it was always going to be a tough chase. With everything that’s happened throughout the whole tournament, really proud of everyone’s effort to be here. You can only play who’s put in front of you. We’ve had lots of adversities throughout the competition, we stuck well together as a group, and played some really good cricket in patches but came up short when it mattered the most,” he added.

Coming to the match, riding on the back of Rohit’s fifty and belligerent cameos fireworks at the Providence Stadium by Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja’s late flourish powered India to 171/7.

While chasing the target 172, the Three Lions came out roaring, looking to defend their crown, but the unbeaten Indian side was too big of a challenge for the defending champions. With England scoring at a healthy run rate of more than 8, visions of the 2022 World Cup semi-final started to slowly rise within the Indian fans.

Openers Buttler and Phil Salt made a solid start, but the combination of Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah took the top order apart. At that point England were 72/7 – meaning they required 100 runs off their remaining 46 balls.

It was all over for the defending champions after Jofra Archer was given out lbw to Japrit Bumrah, having made an excellent 21 off 15 balls, ending England’s innings for 103.

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