"Experience has made Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy more lethal" – Jos Buttler

England stand-in skipper Jos Buttler has hailed ODI openers Jonny Bairstow and Jason Ro, opining that experience has made them better.

The wicketkeeper-batsman rated the pair among the best and noted that the side has benefitted from playing together as a unit for a long period of time.

Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy set the platform for England’s win over India in the second ODI on Friday by stitching a 110-run opening stand. Bairstow went on to smash his 11th ODI hundred, while Roy fell for 55. England chased down 337 with 39 balls to spare.

On the eve of the decider against India in Pune, Jos Buttler spoke about England’s consistency in winning high-scoring matches and attributed it to the side’s skill and experience.

“We all have been playing together for a long period of time. With that comes experience. Both Jonny and Jason are experienced. They access conditions and play accordingly. They are two talented players, and that’s why the boundary scoring is pretty high. In the last few years, we have played in quite a few high scoring games. We are experienced in playing them and, therefore, accustomed to winning them. The sense of panic isn’t really there,” Jos Buttler told the press.

The duo of Jonny Bairstow-Jason Roy have been fantastic for us: Jos Buttler

Even in the first ODI, England openers Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy added 135 off just 86 balls in a chase of 318, but the rest of the line-up let the visitors’ down.

The duo has registered 13 century-stands in just 43 innings, making them one of the most prolific opening stands in ODI history. With a cut-off of 1,000 runs, they are the only opening pair to average over seven an over.

Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy's ODI opening partnershipRuns: 2641Average: 62.88Run rate: 7.03100 stands: 13Only one ODI opening pair (Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane) has a better average partnership (min. 1000 runs). None has a better partnership run rate.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/nSpLEcPQvx

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 26, 2021

Despite the excellent numbers, Jos Buttler singled out their approach as the standout point and hailed the opening duo for their consistency.

“They (Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy) are right up there (among the all-time great opening partners). Aren’t they? They have been fantastic for us. The consistency and the way they do it is quite remarkable. They are very impressive, and we are all delighted to have them at the top of the order.

“People talk about the numbers a lot of time; for us, it’s about the passion they play with. Cricket is a very statistic-based game, but for us, it’s about the fashion we are committed to playing. These guys expressed that very well,” said Jos Buttler.

With 218 runs in two ODIs, Jonny Bairstow leads the run-scoring charts for the India-England ODI series. The final ODI will be played in Pune on Sunday.