Buttler says losing wickets at regular intervals cost England the game

England stand-in skipper Jos Buttler rued the fact that his side lost wickets at regular intervals and that allowed India to pocket the final ODI.

Jos Buttler plays a shot during the final ODI against India in Pune.

England skipper Jos Buttler bemoaned the lack of partnerships and poor dismissals for his side’s seven-run loss in the third and final One-day International match against India in Pune on Sunday.

“We lost wickets at regular intervals and never got those big partnerships together that we wanted to," said Buttler.

"We never felt like the run rate was going to be the biggest issue but we lost some wickets to some poor dismissals as well.

 

"We were happy to chase that score. We have seen in the last few games that it is an excellent wicket and a tough ground to defend so we thought they got a manageable score,” added the stand-in captain.

Commenting on the middle-order failures Buttler said, “When chasing big scores like that, you are looking for someone to go on to make 80 or 100, a really match-defining contribution.

 

Sam Curran nearly did that but just as we got partnerships up and running we lost wickets. We knew that score was manageable. We just needed the ownership from a couple of guys to go and make those starts into big scores.”