Jos Buttler says Ben Stokes could be England’s greatest ever cricketer   

Jos Buttler hailed Ben Stokes after England’s Test captain had added another match-winning performance to his collection by leading the Twenty20 side to the World Cup here.

Stokes’s first half-century in T20 international cricket was enough to give England a nerve-jangling five-wicket victory over Pakistan with an over to spare at the MCG and unite the 50-over and T20 world titles.

And captain Buttler paid tribute to the man he insisted should play a pivotal role here even though Stokes had a prolonged absence from England’s T20 side ahead of the World Cup and lacked fluency with the bat in the early stages of this tournament.

Ben Stokes celebrates after England’s T20 World Cup final triumph over Pakistan in Melbourne 

Stokes is embraced by Liam Livingstone after hitting the winning runs at the MCG on Sunday

‘He always stands up in the biggest moments,’ said Buttler, who became only the third Englishman to lift a cricket World Cup after Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan. 

‘He’s a man who can take a lot of pressure on his shoulders and perform. With Ben in the middle you know you’ve got a good chance. I’m so proud of him. He’s stood up and done it again.’

Buttler looked back to the adversity endured by Stokes, notably in this format in the final of the 2016 tournament in Kolkata when he was hit for four successive last over sixes by Carlos Brathwaite of West Indies to snatch defeat from the jaws of an English victory.

‘It’s an amazing story really,’ said Buttler. ‘It’s a shame Ben did his documentary a year ago. He could have added this in. He’s been on an incredible journey with all these big moments. 

‘I remember him telling Jofra (Archer) that it doesn’t define you when things don’t go your way and Ben has never let that 2016 final push him back. 

England captain Jos Buttler said Stokes would go down as one of the country’s best-ever 

It was a far cry from 2016, when Stokes was hit for four sixes by West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite 

‘Is he England’s greatest ever cricketer? He can be in that conversation for sure.’

Stokes himself paid tribute to England’s bowlers who restricted Pakistan to 137 for eight on a tricky, used MCG pitch after Buttler had won the toss on a day when, against all forecasts, Melbourne remained pretty much dry for the duration of the final.

‘When you’re chasing in a final you can forget all the hard work that came first,’ said Stokes, who finished unbeaten on 52 and hit the winning run. 

‘The way people like Sam Curran and Adil Rashid bowled won us the World Cup. To restrict them to 130 odd, the bowlers have to take a lot of credit.’

The talismanic all-rounder finished 52 not out off 49 balls to steer England home

Stokes insisted England had learned from their one defeat in this World Cup which came on this same MCG ground against Ireland in a rain reduced group match.

‘It was a blip on the way and in tournaments you can’t carry baggage with you,’ said Stokes. ‘The best teams learn from their mistakes so we took that on the chin and didn’t let it affect us for the rest of the tournament.’

Liam Livingstone joined Stokes in the middle to complete the formalities of the win after the Test captain and Moeen Ali had added a decisive 48 for the fifth wicket, taking full advantage when Pakistan spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi had to go off with a knee injury at a decisive stage of England’s chase.

Sam Curran was named Player of the Match and Tournament after finishing with 3-12

‘It was alright out there,’ Livingstone told the BBC. ‘Stokesey was very calm. As soon as I walked out he said ‘let’s make sure two Cumbrians hit the winning runs to win the World Cup.’ It was special. He is a phenomenal man. He has done it twice now to win World Cups for England.’

Buttler now hopes England’s triumph can inspire the England side heading to Qatar for the football World Cup. ‘I saw Harry Kane sent a message wishing us good luck so we were grateful for that,’ said the captain who only took over from Morgan four and a half months ago.

‘Sport is such a big part of English culture and we know how well supported we are. The fans who travelled here to watch us and the millions watching back home, that support is fantastic.’

England are the first side to hold the 50-over World Cup and T20 World Cup simultaneously

England can now lay claim to be one of the best white-ball teams in cricket history, with two titles since the watershed moment of 2015 and three other appearances in either the final or the last four of world tournaments and Buttler added: ‘It’s not for us to judge that but we certainly enjoy people saying it about us.’