CARDIFF(UK): England captain Jos Buttler went past compatriot and former opener Marcus Trescothick to become the country’s top ten run-scorer in international cricket on Saturday.
Buttler accomplished this during his side’s first ODI against New Zealand in Cardiff.
In the match, Buttler scored 72 in 68 balls, consisting of five fours and two sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of over 105.
Buttler has represented England in 332 matches, he has scored 10,392 runs at an average of 36.72. He has scored 14 centuries and 63 half-centuries in 339 innings, with the best score of 162*.
Buttler, in 166 ODI matches, has scored 4,719 runs at an average of 41.76. He has scored 11 centuries and 25 half-centuries in 139 innings, with the best score of 162*.
He has played 57 Tests for England. In these, he has scored 2,907 runs at an average of 31.94. Buttler has two centuries and 18 fifties to his name in this format, with the best score of 152.
In 109 T20I matches, Buttler has scored 2,766 runs at an average of 35.01 and a strike rate of over 144. He has scored a century and 20 fifties in 100 innings, with the best score of 101*. He is England’s leading run-scorer in T20I cricket.
Trescothick had scored 10,326 runs in 202 matches.
The highest-run-scorer for England in international cricket is Joe Root. In 326 matches, he has scored 18,522 runs at an average of 49.13. He has scored 46 centuries and 101 fifties in 425 innings, with the best score of 254.
Coming to the match, New Zealand opted to bowl first. England got off to a solid start with 80-run partnership between Harry Brook (25 in 41 balls, with two fours) and Dawid Malan (54 in 53 balls, with nine fours). England then sunk to 101/3.
Then an 88-run stand between Buttler (72) and a returning Ben Stokes (52 in 69 balls with three fours and a six) and a 77-run partnership between
Buttler and Liam Livingstone (52 in 40 balls, with three fours and three sixes) helped England reach 291/6 in 50 overs.
Rachin Ravindra (3/48) and Tim Southee (2/71) were the pick of the bowlers for NZ.
In the chase of 292, openers Devon Conway and Will Young (29) helped NZ get off to a solid start, forming a 61-run stand. Then followed a 56-run partnership between Conway and Henry Nicholls (26 in 30 balls, with three fours).
After England reduced NZ to 117/2, Conway (111* in 121 balls with 13 fours and a six) and Daryl Mitchell (118* in 91 balls with seven fours and seven sixes) dismantled the English bowling with their hitting, forming a match-winning 180-run partnership.
Conway was adjudged as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his century. (ANI)