Buttler stars as England virtually seal T20 World Cup semi spot

Jos Buttler hit the first century of the T20 World Cup 2021 as his unbeaten 101 helped England secure a 27-run victory over Sri Lanka and secure a place in the semifinals.

The opener, who hit an unbeaten 71 in England's win over Australia, surpassed his previous T20 best of 83 and has now accumulated 214 runs in the tournament.

After winning the toss, Sri Lanka elected to field first. The plan seemed to be in place and working well as England lost three early wickets inside Powerplay.

Hasaranga de Silva provided the first breakthrough with his googly as he removed Jason Roy (9) after he attempted a sweep shot. In the following over, he dismissed Jonny Bairstow for a golden duck.

In between de Silva's overs, Dushmantha Chameera sent Dawid Malan (6) back to the pavilion.

Following the conclusion of the Powerplay, England were struggling at 36/3 with Jos Buttler and skipper Eoin Morgan at the crease.

The right-left batting pair of Buttler and Morgan then stood firm to grind down the Sri Lankan attack with some sensible batting.

ALSO READ: Shoaib Malik stays tight-lipped on retirement plans

Buttler reached his fifty in 45 balls and then changed gears with powerful hits that unsettled the Sri Lankan bowling. Morgan joined the charge with one four and three sixes in his 36-ball knock before being bowled by Hasaranga.

Jos Buttler reached the maiden century of the tournament on the last ball of the innings in 67 balls, which featured six boundaries and six maximums.

Maheesh Theekshana and Hasaranga de Silva were the picks of the bowlers for Sri Lanka as the former only conceded 13 runs from his four overs whereas de Silva took three wickets, leaking only 21 runs from his four overs.

Chasing 164, Sri Lanka lost early wickets and were struggling at 77/5 after the 11th over. Hasaranga de Silva (34 off 21) and Dasun Shanaka (26 off 25) built a strong partnership of more than 50 runs but it was all vein.

de Silva was dismissed by Livingstone after Jason Roy combined with substitute fielder Sam Billings in the deep to take a fantastic catch while Shanaka was run out by the player of the match Buttler in the death overs.

Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, and Moeen Ali all picked up two wickets each whereas Chris Woakes and Liam Livingstone contributed by forcing a dismissal each.