Buttler, Morgan on the rampage as Eng win lone T20 game

Jos Buttler boosted his hopes of a Test recall for the Pakistan series as his stunning unbeaten 73 helped England win the T20 international against Sri Lanka in Southampton on Tuesday.
 Buttler gave the tourists’ attack the runaround with four sixes and three fours in a 49-ball innings which was his highest ever T20 score, and saw England cruise home by eight wickets with 15 balls to spare.
 Eoin Morgan also played a leading role with an unbeaten 47, the England captain shrugging off an earlier dislocated finger after Sri Lanka had been dismissed for 140 off their 20 overs. The defeat completed a miserable tour for Sri Lanka who failed to beat England in any of the nine international matches with the home side winning the Super Series 20-4.
 Jason Roy went for a third-ball duck, bowled around his legs by Angelo Matthews, and James Vince went for 16. But then it became the Buttler and Morgan show.
 Buttler, moved up to open the batting order having been told by coach Trevor Bayliss he was in with a shout for a possible Test place, survived an early scare when he appeared to nick a delivery in Mathews’ next over to wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal. Replays suggested he did hit the ball but the appeal was turned down and the England man made the most of his luck.
 He smashed Mathews over mid-on for a huge six, the first of the innings and he punched Farveez Maharoof down the ground for six and did the same to Danuska Gunathilaka’s spin.
 Morgan was dropped by Mathews when on just eight but then struck spinner Seekkuge Prasanna for a straight six.
 England moved up the gears with Buttler reaching his half-century with a boundary off Chaminda Bandara, and he and Morgan saw their side home with considerable ease. Morgan smashing the winning runs with a six.
 Sri Lanka’s total never looked enough on a fine batting wicket. Liam Dawson produced a sparkling debut performance as the Hampshire spinner took centre-stage on his home Ageas Bowl ground to take 3-27 from four accurate overs while Chris Jordan grabbed 3-29 and paceman Liam Plunkett took 2-27.
 Another debut bowler, left-arm fast bowler Tymal Mills, failed to take a wicket but went for only 22 runs off his four overs, bowling quickly and hitting 92mph plus.
 Kusal Perera went cheaply but Kusal Mendis clubbed a Jordan full toss just wide of Jonny Bairstow. The England bowler was hammered for 20 runs in one over. Gunathilaka made 26 before holing out to Jordan running in from the long off boundary as Hampshire slow left-armer Dawson thrilled his home fans with a wicket.
 Mathews swept straight into aggressive mode with a fine sweep to the boundary off Dawson but the spinner then caught and bowled to remove Mendis for 21.
 Sri Lanka were 79-3 after ten overs but crumbled as they lost Mathews bowled by Dawson for 11 and Dasun Shanaka ran out next ball going for a second run by Jason Roy’s fine throw. Ramith Rambukwella smashed a six and then a four to spoil Rashid’s figures a little before being run out by James Vince’s direct throw.
 Chandimal made 23 before being snapped up by Morgan who then rushed off the field with a dislocated finger having taken the catch awkwardly, but he was okay to bat. Jordan ensured Sri Lanka were kept to just 140, taking two wickets in the final over to dismiss the tourists. And though England began with a stutter in their run chase, once Buttler applied the accelerator the result was never in doubt.
 England captain Morgan was happy with his side’s “aggressive brand of cricket”. The captain defied a dislocated finger himself to hit an important unbeaten 47 as England added a T20 victory over the tourists to their summer Test and ODI series’ triumphs.
 As his Sri Lankan counterpart Mathews began to look forward to a similar cricketing battle against Australia next up, Irishman Morgan insisted: “When I stood for the toss and realised Jos was opening the batting and we had Tymal opening the bowling I couldn’t stop smiling because it’s great to have guys like that to attack with bat and ball.
 “It’s great to play such an aggressive brand of cricket and our white-ball form in this series has been excellent. Dawson and Mills were outstanding on their debuts. The attitude of all the players has been magnificent this summer so far, and this was the perfect way to finish off the campaign with Sri Lanka.
 “Jos showed what a world class performer he is. He was keen to open and show what he can do. Well, it was enjoyable watching from the other end.
 “Liam showed no nerves at all and was fantastic. His figures proved just how well he bowled on his debut and on his home ground. Tymal gave us something extra with his pace at the start of an innings, and he bowled very well.
 “It’s a great achievement for him to bowl four overs like that especially with the back problem he has which has to be managed all the time. Whether he can play in the 50-over game we shall have to see.”
 On the damaged finger which he injured taking a catch at the end of the Sri Lanka innings, he said: “I knew it was dislocated straight away but had it put back in place and had an injection. I was able to bat ok with no problem.”
 The defeat completed a miserable tour for Sri Lanka and Matthews admitted: “We have a short rest now to recharge our batteries, and then that series will be just as hard as this one. We have to be prepared very well mentally and physically for that battle ahead.
 “Of course it’s been very disappointing but we still have some positives to take from the tour. (Dinesh) Chandimal has been outstanding with bat and behind the stumps while Mendis also did well scoring runs. We played well in patches but we just did not have the bowling to back up the batsmen and compete as well as we wanted.”
Brief scores
Sri Lanka: 140 in 20 overs (D Gunathilaka 26, K Mendis 21, D Chandimal 23; Jordan 3/29, Plunkett 2/27, Dawson 3/27) lost to England 144-2 in 17.3 overs (J Buttler 73*, E Morgan 47*; Mathews 2/27) by 8 wickets