Jos Buttler Surpasses Rohit as England Dominates Sri Lanka in T20I
The lights at Southampton caught Jos Buttler in one of those moods. The kind that has bowlers shuffling fielders, captains staring at the scoreboard, and records quietly falling over.
By the time he walked off for 80 from 44 balls, England were hurtling towards 254 for 4, Sri Lanka were already gasping for air, and Buttler had swept past Rohit Sharma to become the second-highest run-scorer in men’s T20I history.
Buttler’s milestone night
He arrived at the crease needing to close in on Rohit’s 4,231 runs. He left having surged to 4,292 from 161 matches, with an average of 34.33, two hundreds and 29 fifties now stamped on his T20I record.
The route there was ruthless. Buttler’s half-century came in just 29 balls, a blur of eight fours and three sixes. He drove on the up, he picked length early, and once he settled, Sri Lanka’s attack simply could not drag him back.
What elevated the night from strong start to statement performance was the company he kept. Harry Brook joined him, and the pair locked Sri Lanka into a long, suffocating spell in the field.
They added 128 for the second wicket, a partnership dripping with intent. It followed directly on from their record 233-run stand against India in England’s previous T20I, a reminder that this is no one-off pairing but a developing axis at the heart of England’s batting.
Buttler eventually holed out for 80, job emphatically done. The stage, though, now belonged to Brook.
Brook goes big, England go massive
If Buttler set the tone, Brook tore the game apart.
He finished unbeaten on 114 from just 49 deliveries, the defining innings of the match. Every time Sri Lanka thought they had located a dot ball, Brook found a gap, a boundary, a release of pressure that never really allowed the visitors to breathe.
England’s total of 254 for 4 told its own story. It was not a scramble. It was an onslaught, built on tempo, precision and a batting order that refused to ease off.
On a night when Buttler’s place in the record books was being updated in real time, Brook still walked away with the Player of the Match award. That says everything about the force of his innings.
Babar still on top, Buttler climbs
Buttler’s surge past Rohit reshapes the top of the T20I run-scoring charts.
Rohit’s T20I career closed at 4,231 runs. Buttler now sits above him on 4,292, second on the all-time men’s list. Only Pakistan’s Babar Azam stands ahead, with 4,596 runs from 145 matches at an average of 38.94.
The numbers underline what the eye has long suggested: Buttler is not just England’s white-ball talisman; he is one of the format’s defining batters.
Baker’s burst and England’s stranglehold
If Sri Lanka harboured any hope of chasing 255, it vanished almost as soon as their reply began.
Six runs from the first two overs told of caution. Sonny Baker’s introduction turned that caution into outright trouble. Hitting the pitch hard, he ripped through the top order and finished with 3 for 12 from his four overs, a spell that made sure England’s mountainous total never came under threat.
Jamie Overton and Liam Dawson joined in, each collecting two wickets as Sri Lanka slid to 135 all out in 19 overs. Dunith Wellalage’s 33-run cameo offered a flicker of resistance, but it never grew into anything that resembled a chase.
England controlled the game from the moment Buttler settled at the crease to the final wicket. The margin – a 119-run victory – reflected that dominance.
It also stretched England’s winning streak over Sri Lanka in T20Is to 13 consecutive matches, a lopsided record that now feels less like a quirk and more like a pattern.
Brook took home the award. Baker walked off with the ball. Yet this was also Buttler’s night: a landmark reached, a legend of the format overtaken, and the chase for Babar Azam’s summit now very much alive.
