Even before coming out to bat, England captain Jos Buttler has already made a huge impact in the ongoing Super 8 match against South Africa in Saint Lucia.
The keeper-batsman could have changed the course of the game by sending back Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen with two brilliant field-keeping efforts. He first made one of the catches of the tournament to dismiss a well-placed De Kock. The England captain dived to his left and caught the ball with one hand to give his team a breakthrough.
And just 11 runs later, he put England in the driving seat by sending back the dangerous Heinrich Klaasen for just 8 runs. Jos Buttler beat Klaasen with a brilliant shot.
On the fifth ball of the 14th over, Mark Wood bowled a short delivery which Klaasen let go over his head. It was a wide throw and Jos Buttler lost the ball as he dived to his left. He failed to pick up the ball cleanly and the ball deflected to his left.
When the ball got away from Buttler, David Miller called for a run and Klaasen obliged. Meanwhile, Buttler ran to collect the ball before quickly turning around and aiming precisely at the non-striker’s side. Klaasen was a bit casual and paid the price for it.
He didn’t expect Buttler to throw the ball towards his side, but Buttler surprised him by hitting the target. The ball crashed against the stumps and reached Klaasen just outside the box.
Check out Jos Buttler’s impressive effort:
Talking about the game, South Africa were at 155 for 5 in the 20th match at the time of writing this report. The Proteas were 87 for 1 at the end of the 10th over before England pulled back in the second half of the innings. The winner of the current match will all but seal a place in the semi-finals, as both teams began their Super 8 campaign with a victory.
