Jos Buttler rues England’s grand collapse, says they threw away a good start

For England, it was a severe reality check at Trent Bridge. The hosts, who won the first two games of the five-Test series against India, witnessed an unbelievable batting collapse in the first innings of the third Test in Nottingham and are now trailing by 292 runs. They started off well but lost all their wickets in a heap in one session to put themselves in trouble and Jos Buttler rightly summarised it by saying “we let that slip”.

England went to lunch on Day two of the Test at 46 for no loss after bowling India out for 329. But after they lost their first wicket in the form of Alastair Cook at 54, their innings fell like nine pins. England were nine for 128 which even gave their fans fears about a follow-on before Buttler and James Anderson added 33 runs for the last wicket.

The Three Lions were bowled out for 161 in their first innings to concede a substantial lead of 168 runs. Buttler was the top scorer in the innings with 39 while Hardik Pandya was the most successful Indian bowler with five wickets for 28 runs.

‘It’s really disappointing’

“It’s really very disappointing after a really good start to the day as well, picking up those early wickets and being 50 for none. We let that slip. It’s important that we recognise why it’s happened, and improve,” Buttler was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).

“It comes down to the guys working hard, being disciplined, practice all the above. It’s hard, it’s not easy, it’s not meant to be easy. Test cricket tests individuals and teams in tough ways. It takes a lot of character for us to come back from tough situations like this,” he remarked.

Buttler also praised the Indian bowlers for their performance. He said India deserved the credit for the way they bowled. “They got the ball moving around, and we weren’t good enough to deal with that today,” the 27-year-old batsman added.

England need to win the Trent Bridge Test to wrap up the five-match series. The fourth and fifth Test will be played at The Rose Bowl and Kennington Oval respectively.

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