Elegance, power, unorthodox shot making and when in mood, Jos Buttler can produce a freak show of batting dominance which we have seen him doing it in ODI cricket for a long period of time. He is clearly one of the best if not the best white ball batter in the world at the moment. He has only 11 centuries to his name in ODI cricket but only in one innings, his strike rate went below 100.
Throughout his career, Jos Buttler has played a number of spectacular innings, it is really exciting to watch him bat with what he puts on the show. Sometimes he plays ridiculous shots like a walking ramp shot, also, we have seen hitting mammoth sixes with muscle power. Today, in this article we will take look at 6 best innings of Jos Buttler in ODI Cricket:
1) 162* off 70 balls v Netherlands at Amstelveen
How surreal was Jos Buttler’s innings against Netherlands! Coming to bat at number 4, Buttler scored 162 runs in 70 balls and created an absolute mayham for the dutch bowlers out there. Well, the opponents were no match in terms of experience but still hitting 14 sixes in a 70 ball innings takes some effort, just looked like, Buttler was hitting them on wishes. England posted 498 runs on board, falling short by 2 runs to touch the 500 runs milestone.
2) 150 off 77 balls v West Indies at St George’s Park Cricket Ground
Most of you may remember this match because of a scene where Sheldon Cottrell gets out Eoin Morgan and does his send off salute. Two overs later when Cottrell comes to bowl, Buttler hits him for back to back sixes gives him taste of his own medicine with a salute. It was a nightmare for Jason Holder who conceded 88 runs in 7 overs. Buttler’s brutal innings saw 12 sixes and 13 fours which makes 124 runs coming from boundaries. England posted 418 runs on the board and won the match by 29 runs.
3) 131 off 127 balls v South Africa at Kimberley
This was a special innings for many reasons. England were 2-0 in the series coming to this match. Captain Buttler was feeling the pressure and he truly manifested a match winning innings in adverse circumstances. Coming to bat at 14/3 in 6 overs, Buttler had to be cautious at the beginning. Slowly building the innings, England reached 40/3 in 15 overs and advancing ahead, Buttler brought his half century in 64 balls with only one six to his name.
From thereon, he switched his gears and completely changed the game. South Africa had England on backfoot and the pair of Jos Buttler and David Malan ushered out the team and lead it to post 346 runs on board. England had completed 100 runs in 25th over and in the next half stage, the scored 246 runs. The next 25 overs saw Buttler at his best, punishing spinners with incredible strength and hitting 6 sixes with ease in later part of his innings.
4) 116* off 52 balls v Pakistan at Dubai Cricket Ground
Pakistan has been receiving end of Buttler’s brutal innings on a number of occasions. This time, the 25 years old Jos Buttler proved he can ace the subcontinent conditions. Coming to bat in the 35th over, Buttler started slowly, scoring only 17 runs in first 19 balls then he went berserk and scored the fastest century in ODIs for England in 46 balls and concluded his innings with 116 runs of 52 balls. With this special ODI innings, Jos Buttler introduced himself to international cricket.
5) 129 off 77 balls v New Zealand at Birmingham
Same year and same story, Jos Buttler making batting look easy. England were 195 for 5 when Buttler came to bat and in the next over, England had lost all their batters, struggling at 202 for 6. Then and there started the Jos Buttler show as he shared 177 runs partnership with Adil Rashid. How good was that partnership! Buttler got best of almost every New Zealand bowler except Trent Boult. Buttler brought his 50 in 42 balls then only took 24 balls for next 50 runs. From 202/6 to 408/9, England had nurtured one of the best batters of ODI cricket.
6) 110 off 55 balls v Pakistan at Southampton
Pakistan couldn’t escape Jos Buttler even if they wanted to. Once again Buttler came to bat in 36th over and hit a pounding six on the very next ball of his innings, making his intentions clear. It was just devestating hitting by Jos Buttler, playing as many shots as possible, some displaying his force while others, his cricketing sense. After completing half century in 32 balls, it only took him 18 balls to reach the triple figure. 9 sixes and 4 fours came from his bat, other four batters combined hit 4 sixes.
These are the ODI innings that really stand out in 13 years career of Jos Buttler. Such a remarkable hitter of the ball, Jos Buttler keeps reminding everyone that there is certain style of cricket he likes to play. It can be said that this is largely due to the transformation Eoin Morgan initiated when if you lose, you want it on your own terms, that way atleast you feel free to express yourself. When Jos Buttler likes to express himself, the bowlers feel a bit scratchy in their head because once he gets going, hardly there is a way to stop him unless he makes a mistake by himself.
