"The confidence has taken a bit of a dent" - Jos Buttler following England's T20 series defeat to South Africa

England captain Jos Buttler conceded that their confidence has taken a hit following the T20 series defeat against South Africa. The keeper-batter lamented the batting line-up for their inability to put pressure on the opposition.

England crashed to a 90-run defeat in the third and final T20I against South Africa in Southampton on Sunday (July 31), managing only 101 on the board. The hosts were undone by Tabraiz Shamsi's maiden fifer in T20Is after Reeza Hendricks' 50-ball 70.

Speaking after the game, Buttler admitted that they have consistently performed poorly throughout the summer with the bat, affecting their confidence. The 31-year old also rued their timidity with the bat instead of playing courageously.

The Lancashire player stated, as quoted by BT Sport:

"I can be honest enough to say we haven’t performed how we would have liked the whole summer, so maybe the confidence has taken a bit of a dent. With the bat we never imposed ourselves, never managed to wrestle the initiative and put pressure on the opposition.

"I think that little bit of timidness is probably the thing we are frustrated with the most. We want to be known as a team that wants to be brave and take risks."

The right-handed batter also admitted to facing challenging conditions, but assumed responsibility for not countering them well.

He said:

"We have faced some challenging conditions at times but as individuals and as a team you must try to turn up every day with a fresh outlook playing the conditions in front of you trying to impose yourselves on the game. We haven’t managed to do that as well as we would have liked."

The series defeat against the Proteas was Buttler's third of the summer as captain. It also means England will end their summer without a limited-overs series victory.

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"I haven’t managed to score the runs that I would have liked" - Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler made 14 before Keshav Maharaj prised him. (Credits: Twitter)

Buttler reflected on his own form, saying he hasn't lived up to his expectations of leading from the front. Despite saying that certain batters have underperformed, he maintains faith in the players selected, adding:

"The first port of call for myself is to reflect on my own performances and I haven’t managed to score the runs that I would have liked. As a captain especially you want to lead from the front and show the way for everyone else.

"I think there is a number of us in the group who haven’t been able to perform at the level we would like, but we still maintain lots of faith and trust in the guys we select."

It's worth noting that the captain has made only one fifty in white-ball cricket this summer. England and South Africa will turn their attention to the three-Test series, starting on August 17 at Lord's.