After what has been an up-and-down game for him, it was perhaps apt that Jos Buttler’s epic vigil came to an end via a hit-wicket dismissal.
Sign up to bet365 to be entered into a draw for the chance to win a Wisden t-shirt of your choice, terms and conditions apply, more information here 18+ begambleaware.org
The downside of Buttler being a superstar in the limited overs format is that expectations are just as high even when he dons whites. An average of 32.81 after 55 Tests with only two Test hundreds shows that Buttler hasn’t quite been able to stamp his authority in Test cricket. His keeping has sometimes been found wanting, including in this Test match, with several dropped catches going down. Some began to argue that now was the time for England to make a change behind the stumps.
He came into the second innings, therefore, under a lot of pressure, and with England almost out of contention. They were 86-5 early on day five, with the target only theoretical. They ended up taking the game into the final session, with defeat only feeling confirmed when Buttler was out, having faced 207 balls for 26 runs.
Buttler’s white-ball exploits have, at times, earned comparisons to AB de Villiers, with both regularly playing shots and innings that others could only dream of. This was another knock to be compared to the great South African, albeit in a completely different way. One of de Villiers’ most fabled Test knocks is his 33 off 220 balls to help save a Test, also against Australia and also at Adelaide, in 2012. Buttler’s innings was actually slightly slower than de Villiers’. In fact, it was the third-slowest strike-rate any batter has recorded in an innings of 200 balls or more, with Jack Russell’s unbeaten 29 off 235 at Johannesburg in 1995, and Hashim Amla’s 25 off 244 at Delhi in 2015 the only two longer and slower innings.
However, while Buttler was the mainstay, he wasn’t the only Englishman to contribute to the blockathon. Stokes kept out 77 balls, while Chris Woakes added his fourth double-figure score of the series, making 44 off 97 balls. The 188 balls faced between Woakes and Buttler made it England’s longest seventh-wicket partnership ever in Australia, where balls faced have been recorded. While Woakes has struggled with the ball this series, averaging 76 and taking just three wickets, his ability with the bat has helped him contribute for England.
Even after he fell, England battled on. Ollie Robinson made 42 off 101 in his maiden Test innings, but hasn’t passed 15 since then. While he managed only eight today, the 39 balls he faced made it his longest knock since his debut. Only on three previous occasions, where balls faced have been recorded, have England’s eighth-wicket pair faced more than the 88 deliveries Robinson and Buttler managed in this game.
All that added up to a battling effort from England, one to rank right up there amongst the other great lost match-saving efforts. With a cut-off of 100 overs bowled, there have been only two slower fourth-innings team efforts this century.
In the end, however, Australia’s victory was comfortable, with more than 20 overs remaining. James Anderson had earlier in the game become the first batter to register 100 ‘not out’ innings in Test history. His dismissal for two means that England’s hopes of regaining the Ashes are hanging by the slimmest of threads, despite Buttler’s heroics.
