When Buttler struck gold

On a tricky Gabba surface, after choosing to bat, Jos Buttler was on 31 off 26 at one point, with England losing a bit of momentum once Alex Hales departed for 52 just past the halfway mark. Buttler could have been dismissed inside the powerplay on 8 off 9 had Kane Williamson not grounded a tough catch. But until Hales' departure, Buttler appeared to have not made the most of that reprieve.

His first boundary had come only after the powerplay when he lapped Lockie Ferguson for a six before New Zealand's spinners got England into a chokehold. The dismissal of Hales had heightened the pressure on England to get going. Moeen Ali, who had been padded up since the time Ish Sodhi came on to bowl, walked in only four overs later. The spinners had bowled five of their eight overs giving away only 29. England sought desperately to turn the tide, to flick on a switch that'd shed a different light to the innings. Ali wasn't able to bring about that, having fallen to Sodhi in an attempt to go big.

The tide had turned nevertheless, albeit from the other end. Buttler, who had seen his attempted scoops take edges and failing to connect with big swings thus far suddenly seemed to unlock a code that no one else had. Staying deep in the crease and having a clean bat-swing is a mantra that Buttler has lived by in all of his white ball career. When Lockie Ferguson, bowling very, very fast came up against Buttler who was on the prowl, the action was as high-octane as it could get in T20 cricket.

With his pace, Ferguson tried to go full and attack the stumps only to see Buttler swing it back over mid off. When he went short, Buttler went for a full-blooded pull that was dropped by Daryl Mitchell. And then another full one was dispatched so powerfully that long off could barely take a couple of steps. Finally a slower ball was swatted away wide of long on disdainfully as if it was not worth being in this contest. With that 14-run over, Buttler had found his rhythm back and pressed on till 73 before an unfortunate run out cut short his upsurge.

Buttler's day wasn't done yet though. As a captain, he continued to make good calls - bringing on Ali in the first over, rotating the first seven overs between six bowlers - nearly pulled off a quick stumping, completing a brilliant diving catch. All of this ensured that he was on top of New Zealand like a rash, not letting them get away

And although England benefited hugely from crafty death bowling by Sam Curran and Chris Woakes, the day quite simply belonged to the skipper. It was the kind of day for Buttler where the moves he made on the go clicked big.

"I think there's a fine balance between sort of doing your preparation against players, and you can look at numbers till the cows come home really in this day and age. But I think the feel on the day is a really important part of it. I think my own captaincy journey is still pretty young. As that evolves over time, I think I'll get even more of a feel of exactly what I like. But came off today having batted, and thought Moeen Ali should bowl the first over. And didn't think that... sort of leading into the game really, having not seen the wicket as well. So it's important to see what's in front of you and then trust your instincts and your experiences." explained Buttler on his improvisation.

That this came on a day where England could have fallen far behind in the semifinal race made it all the more better for the team, but for Buttler just getting to make those decisions was about enough. After a frustrating few days where they had seen two of their games cut short by rain, and dropping points as a result, Buttler said, "Again, as I mentioned, any time you have a semblance of control and you're in the middle, certainly for me personally feels a lot more calming than, say, sat watching it and turning into not a very good watcher of the game. But out in the middle and you can sort of back your decision.

"It doesn't mean you'll always make the right one, and sometimes you'll get away with making the wrong one and it just comes off. But certainly knowing you are making those decisions allows it to rest pretty easy."

It also helped that Buttler had a range of options to choose from when it came to bowling. "Yeah, it is, absolutely. To come through that game as captain and score some runs for the team and then to sort of a couple of times you make a decision and it sort of comes off straight away, that's always nice when it happens.

"And I just think I've asked the guys to be sort of ready and bowl at different times and fulfil different roles in different games, and I think everyone has sort of really grown to that. So I feel like I have many options I can throw the ball to, and I've got to trust my instinct as to who I feel is best for that particular time," he said.

Buttler denied feeling that England were losing a bit of pace during the first half but admitted to feeling positive after his own knock. "Yeah, really satisfying. It's always as a captain, you want to try to lead by example and do your job for the team as well as sort of doing the captaincy role as well.

"I think first and foremost probably the most important thing is to make sure I focus a lot on my own game and spend time thinking about my batting and my wicket keeping and make sure I fulfil that role really well and do what's required for the team," he said.

The win also left England with their fate in their own hands heading into their last league game against Sri Lanka.

"Yeah, we've just got to wait and see exactly what happens. There is a little bit of a benefit obviously playing that last game to know exactly what is required of us," said Buttler on how the scheduling could help them going forward. But to have been able to get into that position today, England have Buttler to thank for.