Eoin Morgan Defends Under-Fire England Batsman Jos Buttler

England and South Africa will have all to play for in the final T20I on Sunday, at Centurion, after the away team levelled the series 1-1 in Durban. Having won the first T20I with just one run hosts South Africa took the lead in the three-match series.

The English team made a roaring comeback, winning the second game with just two runs, courtesy of some amazing performances by the likes of Moeen Ali, and Tom Curran.

One player who has struggled in the recent games is England opener Jos Buttler, who has failed to rise to the challenge. He has come under criticism for his underwhelming performances, but Buttler got the backing from his skipper Eoin Morgan, who hailed him as one of the ‘greatest’ players of the white-ball cricket.

Jos Buttler one of our greatest white-ball cricketers: Eoin Morgan

Since Buttler has failed to impress in the Test series and the first two T20Is, the English skipper was quick to defend him, while also reminding the world about his past exploits. Morgan also said that the 29-year-old will continue to open for his team, as against the suggestion that England would tinker with the lineup.

“Not for Sunday, definitely not. Jos is one of our greatest white-ball cricketers, as a batsman, never mind with the gloves. We believe him, Jason (Roy) and Jonny (Bairstow) are our top three at the moment, moving forward,” he said.

Morgan further added, “The lucky thing is that we can change it (Batting order) and we’d be just as strong or even stronger. Jos is brilliant at No. 5 but he’s also brilliant when he opens. So sometimes when he bats at five and plays the way he does, people say he could open and bat like that and bat for longer. Jos is one of our best finishers, but as a 5, 6, 7, 8 we have to get better as well. We can’t just rely on him. If he comes off at the top, we win the game in 10 overs.”

After the third T20I, England’s tour of South Africa comes to an end, and they will move on to play another away Test series in Sri Lanka.