SAQIB MAHMOOD paid tribute to the “amazing” captaincy of Jos Buttler after the fast bowler helped England guarantee a T20 series victory over the West Indies in St Lucia.
Buttler’s position has been under the microscope following the surrender of both limited-overs World Cups in the last 12 months, with scrutiny especially on some gut calls that backfired spectacularly.
He has continued in the role and vowed to “really, really enjoy” the remainder of his career, with the 34-year-old giving up the wicketkeeper gloves in the Caribbean to be closer to his bowlers.
Mahmood believes he is benefiting from the decision, pointing out his dismissals of big-hitters Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer owed much to Buttler’s tactical acumen coming to the fore in England’s nervy three-wicket win, which moved them into an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
“I’ve enjoyed working with him again, it’s slightly different to when he’s got the gloves, to have him at mid-on,” Mahmood said. “He made a couple of calls which paid off for us.
“The second ball to Lewis, he skewed over backward point and I was debating whether to bring third up and put point back. He just said to leave it for one more ball and he was caught at third.
“To Hetmyer, we were trying to pitch the ball up and be aggressive and he asked ‘what do you reckon to a bumper?’ I tried the bumper and he was caught at deep square-leg.
“I said to him after that ‘what do you want me to bowl next ball?’ His captaincy has been amazing.”
Mahmood finished with three for 17 to take his tally in the series to nine wickets — eight of them in the powerplay — and leave the Windies reeling on 37 for five after their twin defeats in Barbados.
“It’s probably the best I’ve felt in an England shirt,” Mahmood said. “But T20 cricket is so volatile. I could have bowled the exact same and on a different day, you don’t get any reward. It’s nice to be getting rewards at the moment.”
Rovman Powell’s 54 off 41 balls in a 73-run stand with Romario Shepherd, who contributed 30 off 28 deliveries, made sure they did not sink without trace but Jamie Overton dismissed the pair, plus Gudakesh Motie, within seven balls.
A total of 145 for eight was thought to be below-par but England made a nervy start and despite the evening dew descending and the Windies frantically drying the ball, the home side’s spinners bogged them down in the chase.
Sam Curran’s 41 off 26 balls ignited the charge while Liam Livingstone was dropped three times in his 39 off 28 deliveries before England won in the final over.
While this was the sixth-successive occasion on this tour where a side prevailed after winning the toss, the flip of the coin was not as instrumental as it had been in Antigua or Barbados.
Asked about the possibility of batting first if Buttler calls correctly in either of the last two dead rubber T20s, Mahmood said: “If anything you probably want to lose a toss and challenge yourselves.
“If we win the toss, we probably wouldn’t go that way, we’d still want to have that ruthless mindset of trying to win every game. But it’s not my decision.”
