T20 World Cup: Jos Buttler becomes first England cricketer to slam centuries across all three formats

Sharjah, Nov 1: England's star opener Jos Buttler added another feather in his illustrious cricketing career as he became the first English batter to slam a century across all three formats. Buttler smashed his maiden T20 century against Sri Lanka in the Group 1 Super 12 match in the T20 World Cup 2021 here on Monday (November 1).

The explosive right-handed Nottinghamshire batsman scored 101* off just 67 deliveries and smashed six maximums in the innings. Buttler notched up his fifty off 45 balls, the slowest of his T20 career, but added another fifty on the next 22 deliveries to finish England's innings with a flourish in the death overs.

Buttler finished off the innings with a six off pacer Dushmantha Chameera to notch up his maiden T20 ton. He also became the ninth batsman overall to hit a century in the T20 World Cup. Alex Hales was the first English cricketer to notch up a ton in T20 World Cup.

Earlier in the day, together with skipper Eoin Morgan, Buttler shared a century stand to take England to a challenging 163 for four after early setbacks. Sent into bat, England lost three wickets for 35 runs before Buttler and Morgan (40 off 36) joined hands to stitch a crucial 112 runs for the fourth wicket that came off 78 balls.

England lost Jason Roy (9) in the second over. Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (3/21) followed up his hat-trick against South Africa by castling the English opener's stumps with his second ball of the day. The script went from bad to worse for England as they lost two more quick wickets.

First Dawid Malan (6) was cleaned up by Dushmantha Chameera in the third over and two overs later Jonny Bairstow (0) was out LBW to de Silva after Sri Lanka successfully asked for a review.

In between, Buttler found the fence on a few occasions to keep England's scoreboard ticking, managing a meagre 47 runs in the first 10 overs. The onus was on Buttler to up the ante and he did try his best after the 10th over, piling up 14 runs of medium-pacer Chamika Karunaratna in the 13th over.

Buttler first muscled the bowler to the mid-on fence and then clobbered him over the deep midwicket boundary for a maximum. Buttler notched up his fifty off 45 balls, the slowest of his T20 career, with a single off de Silva in the 14th over. The partnership between Buttler and Morgan grew in confidence as time progressed.

The 15th over bowled by fast bowler Lahiru Kumara yielded 22 runs with Buttler hitting two sixes, while Morgan cleared the fence once. Morgan's dismissal had no effect on Buttler who continued his attacking game. England batters took Sri Lanka bowlers to task in the final five overs, scoring 58 runs for the loss of just one wicket.