Jos Buttler admits England were ‘outplayed’ by Ireland in T20 World Cup defeat

Jos Buttler admitted his England side were ‘outplayed’ as Ireland recorded a famous T20 World Cup victory at the MCG.

Buttler’s side were humiliated and now face an uphill task to get into the semi-finals with Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka all still to come in the Super 12 stage.

When rain stopped play in Melbourne, England found themselves five runs behind the par score on DLS having failed to get going in their pursuit of a target of 158.

England captain Jos Buttler admitted his side were ‘outplayed’ by Ireland in a World Cup loss

Buttler walks off after Josh Little dismissed him with the second ball of England’s innings

Buttler admitted his team had struggled, telling the TV cameras: ‘They outplayed us in all three facets of the game. The better team won today.

‘Especially in the first 10 overs with the ball we were poor. We were a long way short of where we ended to be and we let Ireland get away from us.

‘We let them score on both sides of the wicket when it was favourable for bowling. We won the toss and had everything in our favour but we didn’t take advantage of that.

‘The second 10 overs we were much better. We let Ireland have 20 or 30 too many in the first half and so we were under pressure. We managed to restrict them but they showed us how to bowl out there.’

Ireland pulled off a famous win over England at the T20 World Cup to shake up the Super 12s

The players had gone off the field for another rain delay when confirmation of the win came

Buttler fell for a duck to the second ball of England’s reply and added: ‘Myself getting out in the first over, that’s never ideal and it put pressure on the rest of our batting.

‘They bowled well and certainly used the conditions better. We won the toss and chose to bowl knowing we’d have the advantage of knowing what we’d have to do when it came around to batting. But we weren’t able to make the most of it.’

It needs England needed to beat hosts Australia in Melbourne on Friday to have a realistic chance of making it through.

‘Friday is massive,’ Buttler added. ‘This result has put a lot of pressure on us now but it’s as big as it can get now to get us up for it – Australia vs England at the MCG.’

Bowler Mark Wood, who’d been exceedingly candid about England’s bowling during the innings break, said afterwards the team had fallen well short of their usual standards.

There was delight among the Irish support at the MCG as they pulled off a famous victory

Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie’s 62 anchored their innings as they posted 158 

‘It’s not what we wanted. Expected? In T20 cricket, if you don’t play well then you can get punished,’ he said on BBC Test Match Special.

‘It doesn’t have to be the No 1 team in the world, it can be any team. We were off, they were on and they deserved to win.

‘The first 10 overs with the ball, we weren’t at our best. I’m pretty angry and disappointed in myself.

‘On that wicket, I think I could have bowled much better. If I look solely at myself, I could have been a lot more consistent and not given away as many four balls.

‘Australia is now a massive game but we didn’t deserve to win here.’

Delight for Ireland after Josh Little gets the prize wicket of England opener Jos Buttler

As the covers returned to the field to take the game beyond its cut off time, Ireland were ahead

By contrast, Ireland revelled in an historic win to rank alongside their 50-over World Cup success against England in Bangalore back in 2011.

Captain Andrew Balbirnie, whose 62 off 47 balls anchored their innings, said: ‘It’s amazing and it’s emotional because we’ve never played a game of cricket here.

‘To come here and play the tournament favourites, with so many big names, and put on a show in front of friends and family and so many people around the world is very satisfying.

‘To do this at one of the most amazing cricket grounds in the world is pretty special.’