Jos Buttler led England to a thrilling victory against the odds over Bangladesh on Wednesday night and then admitted it was made extra special because of bad feeling between the sides.
England made the highest score to win a one-day international in Chittagong, clinching the series 2-1 by chasing 278 with four wickets and 13 balls to spare in front of a partisan home crowd, reports The Daily Mail.
‘It is hugely satisfying,’ said Buttler. ‘It should not be underestimated what we’ve achieved. It’s been a tough tour physically and mentally with what went on before and to come here with a pretty young and inexperienced team was special.’
‘It does feel like we’ve had the last laugh,’ said the stand-in skipper, who was at the centre of the unsavoury incidents that marred the second ODI in Dhaka.
‘It was nice to look a few of their players in the eye and say, “well played” afterwards. It’s definitely nice to win, especially after what happened on Sunday.’
Buttler stepped in when one-day captain Eoin Morgan refused to travel to Bangladesh because of safety concerns and the absence of their leader and other key players made this a notable triumph for England — especially as Bangladesh had won their last six home series.
Ben Stokes, who scored his maiden ODI international century in the first match and was named man of the series, said: ‘The team we have had together for the last 18 months have been playing unbelievable cricket.
‘It’s really exciting,’ Stokes added. ‘If we carry on like this we’ll achieve our target of being world number one.’
England immediately turn their attention to red-ball cricket and on Friday begin the first of two two-day warm-up games ahead of the first of two Tests in Chittagong next Thursday.
