ENG vs SA | Jos Buttler blames lack of wickets in middle-overs for the loss

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler blamed lack of wickets in the middle phase of the game for the team’s 62-run defeat against South Africa in the ODI series-opener on Tuesday.

In the first ODI of the three-match series, England were outclassed by South Africa as they clinched a comfortable 62-run win in Durham. Chasing a big total of 333, England were bundled out for just 271 handing the visitors an early 1-0 lead in the series.

We could not find the spark with the ball: Buttler 

Speaking about the loss in the post-match presentation, Buttler said that South Africa made the right call at the toss to bat first as the wicket got difficult to bat on in the second innings. He also recognised the all-important 100+ stand between Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram.

"I thought it was a good toss to win and we could not find that spark with the ball. It was a fantastic partnership between Rassie (Van der Dussen) and (Aiden) Markram and we were not able to break that," said Jos Buttler after the loss.

'Need to pick wickets in the middle overs'

Buttler stressed on the importance of picking wickets in the middle overs of the game and said:

"We have to pick wickets in the middle part of the game and they batted well, used the pockets of space in the field perfectly, and ran hard.

The 31-year-old English cricketer defended his teammates by saying that there was no lack of effort from his players, just good bowling by the Proteas bowlers.

"I don't think it is because of lack of effort, the two guys at the top are explosive but South Africa bowled well and didn't allow them to get going."