Photo Credit: ICC
England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler insisted there is no room for mistakes against Bangladesh despite a convincing opening victory over the West Indies.
Eoin Morgan’s side strolled to a six-wicket win in their Super 12s opener after bundling their opponents out for just 55 in a stunning bowling performance.
Despite seeing four wickets go down at the other end in reply, opener Buttler made an unbeaten 24 off 22 deliveries to see England home with 70 balls to spare, in a massive boost to their net run rate, and the vice-captain is eager to keep the winning momentum going on Wednesday at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
“Winning momentum is vital, isn’t it? Sort of the way the tournament is set out; there’s not much room for mistakes,” said the 31-year-old.
“The beauty of T20 cricket is anyone can beat anyone on their day, and an individual can win a match for their team.
“But no, we prepare well and we are a very level team, don’t get too high, don’t get too low and we’ll try to bring our level of intensity which always brings our best level to the game.”
Incredibly, England and Bangladesh have never met in an T20I before, but Buttler is adamant there will not be any nasty surprises in store.
He added: “Yeah, we know the challenges we’ll face. We’ve played against them lots in 50-over cricket. We know they are a dangerous side.
“They have got a lot of experience in T20 cricket as well, some very good players playing quite a specific style that is quite unique to them I feel as well.
“We focus obviously and try to plan for the opposition but at the same time we are focusing on ourselves, trying to get our level of intensity to the place it needs to be.
“I think we feel confident as a group that when we get that right, no matter who we play against, it’s going to give us the best chance of success.
“We have plans as we need to but we focus a lot on ourselves.”
Bangladesh’s fast-bowling coach Ottis Gibson urged his side not to panic against England’s powerful white-ball side led by Morgan who has inspired a fearless brand of cricket in recent years.
Gibson has had two stints in charge of England’s seam ranks and is well versed in the threats that Chris Silverwood’s side will bring.
He said: “I think Eoin Morgan was crucial to sort of the way that England started to play white-ball cricket.
“They’ve picked obviously different players compared to 2015, and the brand of cricket that they play, they’re positive all the time. They’re going to take the positive option.
“So, I’ve spoken to our bowlers and our batsmen, England bowlers are looking to take wickets all the time, and England batters are looking to score runs all the time and put bowlers under pressure.
The message is not to panic, understand that you are going to get hit. You might bowl a good ball and get hit because that’s their mentality, but they also give you opportunities to take wickets.
“So, we must be calm. We must try and execute our skills plans. And when those opportunities come, we must take those opportunities of course, but the one thing we must remain as a bowling group is calm and very considered in how we approach every ball that we bowl.”
