Jos Buttler put on a fine show of T20 batting on Monday in Sharjah as he struck his maiden T20I hundred. The England batter became the first to get to the 3-figure mark in the T20 World Cup 2021 as he hammered 101 not out in just 67 balls on a tough pitch against Sri Lanka in their Super 12 match.

Jos Buttler became the first England men’s team batter to hit a hundred in all 3 formats of international cricket. He also became the second England men’s team batter after Alex Hales to hit a hundred in a T20 World Cup.

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Buttler also joined an elite list of batters who have scored hundreds in the showpiece T20 event. Buttler joined the likes of Chirs Gayle (2), Ahmed Shehzad, Alex Hales, Mahela Jayawardene, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina and Tamim Iqbal after the stunning knock on Monday.

On a pitch where run-scoring was not as easy as it was for England in Dubai, Jos Buttler paced his innings wonderfully well. He got to his fifty in 45 balls – his slowest in T20I cricket but cut loose after getting to the 15-over mark. Buttler got to his next fifty in just 21 balls as he struck 6 sixes and as many boundaries at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Seriously unbelievable @josbuttler! Tough pitch, targeted his bowlers and went hot at the end! Welcome to the hundred in all formats club #ENGvSL

— Heather Knight (@Heatherknight55) November 1, 2021

Best in the world @josbuttler

— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) November 1, 2021

England were reeling at 47/3 at the end of the 10th over but a 100-plus stand between Buttler and Eoin Morgan helped the 50-over World Champions post an above-par total of 163/4 in 20 overs. Buttler kept it simple as he respected the conditions in the first half of the England innings before picking and choosing the right bowers to target.

Buttler kept playing straight and hammered the Sri Lankan pacers who were disappointing even as spinners Wanidu Hasaranga (3/21) and Mahesh Theekshana (0/13) restricted the run-flow in two terrific spells.

Very very special innings from Buttler: Collingwood

England’s assistant coach Paul Collingwood heaped praise on Jos Buttler’s effort, saying the team were thinking of a score around 110 when they were reeling at 47/3 at the half-way mark.

“We witnessed a very very special T20 innings, we were in trouble after 10 overs, but getting 116 in the next 10 makes it special. It’s a difficult pitch, the ball isn’t coming on, the pitch is on the slow side, the bounce isn’t consistent, can’t play cross-batted shots, that makes Buttler’s innings so good,” he said.