'Jos Buttler's someone we're going to have to plan for': Mitchell Starc on his recent form

Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has stressed that his team will have to come up with a concrete plan for Jos Buttler if they want to make a comeback in the third T20I match against England that will be played at the Ageas Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday. Buttler scored an unbeaten 74  in the second T20I on Sunday as the hosts sealed the T20I series comfortably. The Aussies will be hoping to salvage pride in the final T20I and if they manage to win it, then they would retain the top spot in the ICC T20I Rankings as per reports. 

'He's someone we're going to have to plan for': Mitchell Starc

"He's someone we're going to have to plan for the third game, and obviously the one-dayers as well," Cricket.com.au quoted Starc as saying.

"When you get someone striking the way he has for the last two games, it's obviously powerful for T20 cricket in such a short format. We'll have to chat as a group tomorrow," he added.

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England seal the T20I series

Coming back to the 2nd T20I that was played at Southampton, Australian skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the decision backfired as the English bowlers provided breakthroughs at regular intervals. Nonetheless, Finch anchored the innings by scoring a precious 40 (33) and riding on some support from Marcus Stoinis (26-ball 35) and Glenn Maxwell (18-ball 26) in the middle-order, the visitors managed to post a respectable total of 157/7 in their 20 overs.

In reply, England lost the wicket of star limited-overs opener Jonny Bairstow early on in their run chase when he ended up shattering the stumps with his bat during his follow-through and what looked to be promising innings till that point in time came to an abrupt end as Jonny had to take a long walk back to the dugout.

Nonetheless, wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler and England's star T20I batsman Dawid Malan added 87 runs for the second-wicket stand before the hosts suffered a small batting collapse and when they lost back-to-back wickets of youngster Tom Banton and skipper Eoin Morgan, it appeared as if the visitors would stage a comeback in the contest but that was not to be as Buttler successfully anchored the English run chase and helped them get past the finish line by clearing the stands in the penultimate over as the 2009 T20 World Cup winners won the match by six wickets with seven balls to spare.

READ: Eng Vs Aus: Jos Buttler Finishes Off In Style As England Seal The T20I Series

(With ANI Inputs)

(Image Courtesy: ICC)