England Captain Buttler Set to Miss 3rd T20 Against Pakistan

News Desk 

London: Jos Buttler has left the England squad ahead of Tuesday’s Twenty20 international against Pakistan to be with his wife, who is about to give birth to their third child.

The 33-year-old England captain scored a match-winning 84 as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the rain-affected four-game series with a 23-run victory in Birmingham on Saturday. However, he is now set to miss Wednesday’s third T20 in Cardiff, with vice-captain Moeen Ali expected to lead England at Sophia Gardens instead.

In Buttler’s absence, Ben Duckett might be brought in to open, or England could promote Will Jacks from No. 3 after he scored 37 off 23 balls against Pakistan at Edgbaston’s ground in Birmingham. Surrey all-rounder Jacks recently returned from a stint in the T20 Indian Premier League, where he made a dashing unbeaten century to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a nine-wicket win over Gujarat Titans.

If Jacks moves up the order for England on Tuesday, he would open the batting alongside Phil Salt, a player he knows well from their time in franchise cricket. “I think we’re both very comfortable,” Jacks told Sky Sports. “Me and Phil have played a lot of cricket together — we’ve played franchise cricket together which definitely helps when we come to England.”

The 25-year-old added: “We understand each other’s games very well and we’re both that kind of free-flowing, top-order batters everyone has nowadays.”

This series, which concludes at The Oval in London on Thursday, serves as a warm-up for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States, with reigning champions England starting their title defense against Scotland in Barbados on June 4.