'Hopefully, I can follow in Joe Root’s footsteps' - Jos Buttler emotional after captaincy nightmare

Jos Buttler-led England National Cricket Team locked horns with the Aiden Markram-led South Africa National Cricket Team in the 11th match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday, March 1.

In Jos Buttler's final match as captain at the international level, England lost the match by 7 wickets and crashed out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 winless.

Also Read: Aiden Markram ruled out of CT 2025 semi-finals? SA's stand-in skipper breaks the silence

England failed with bat in the match

Jos Buttler's England won the toss and chose to bat first in the match. The decision backfired as they were not able to deliver a good performance and got bowled out for 179 runs in 38.2 overs.

Only four players were able to breach the 20-run mark in the innings with Joe Root being the top-scorer with 37 runs under his belt. Jofra Archer (25), Ben Duckett (24) and Jos Buttler (21) were the other notable contributors.

Defending the total, Jofra Archer dismissed Tristan Stubbs and Ryan Rickelton inside 9 overs. After that, Heinrich Klaasen and Rassie van der Dussen stitched up a 127-run match-winning partnership and the Proteas easily won.

It was really a disappointing performance, we were short of our mark today - Jos Buttler

Speaking after the match, England captain, Jos Buttler, expressed his disappointment over the performance against South Africa after Michael Atherton told him he made the right decision to relinquish captaincy. He said:

"It was really a disappointing performance, we were short of our mark today, so really disappointing. A decent surface, a little bit slow and two-paced, Duckett got us into a nice position but we couldn't take advantage of that."

Jos Buttler further said that he didn't know what was wrong with the team, but was confident of England bouncing back with Brendon McCullum and other top officials making plans for the comeback.

"I don't know, to be honest, as a whole group, we are not getting the results, and that takes away the confidence from us. So, it's a change of scene and we have to see where cricket takes us," Jos Buttler said.

"Of course, there is no doubt, the talent is there, and we have all the elements to put together a great side, I'm sure Brendon and the guys at the top will formulate some plans and it's up to the individuals as well to put their mark and assure that the team gets to where it wants to be."

Jos Buttler looked quite emotional after the match but had a smile on his face during the post-match chat. He signed off by remembering his time as a World Cup-winning skipper and was looking to follow Joe Root's path and contribute to Team England.

"It was a fantastic time to be a world-cup winning captain and that was my best day in my captaincy tenure. Joe has been a shining light and a great example for us. After relinquishing his captaincy, he has played brilliantly, and hopefully, I can follow in his footsteps," Buttler added.

Not the end Jos Buttler would have hoped for to his captaincy stint!

England is the only team in #CT2025 to not have gained a single point. #ChampionsTrophyOnJioStar 👉 #INDvNZ | SUN, 2nd MAR, 1:30 PM on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 2 & Sports 18-1! pic.twitter.com/4L4J8lm4UC

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 1, 2025

England performed poorly against South Africa in their previous ODI as well

England suffered a humiliating defeat against South Africa in their previous ODI match during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Opting to bowl first, Jos Buttler’s side were at the receiving end of annihilation at the hands of the South African batting unit, as the Proteas posted a colossal total of 399/7 on the board.

England’s bowlers struggled from the very start even though Reece Topley dismissed Quinton de Kock early. The left-arm pacer Topley was hammered for 88 runs in 8.5 overs despite picking 3 wickets.

Adil Rashid was the most economical among the bowlers, picking up two wickets for 61 runs in 10 overs and Gus Atkinson also picked two wickets for 60 runs in 9 overs. However, none of England's bowlers were spared by Heinrich Klaasen, who blasted 109 runs off 67 balls, and Marco Jansen, who struck an explosive 75* runs off 42 deliveries.

Chasing 400, England faced a top-order collapse. Jonny Bairstow fell to Lungi Ngidi before Marco Jansen dismissed Joe Root and Dawid Malan in successive balls, while Kagiso Rabada sent back Ben Stokes for a single-digit score. Jos Buttler and Harry Brook fell to Gerald Coetzee, leaving England down and out at 68/6 inside 12 overs.

Gus Atkinson (35 off 21) and Mark Wood (43* off 17) chipped with a few runs, but the damage was already done as England got all out for 170 in 22 overs, losing by 229 runs.