‘Buttler played one of his best ever innings’

"It's a nice thing, a nice stat. I don't really play the game for the stats, just excited about where I feel I am with my batting and for the rest of the tournament."

Jos Buttler on scoring 100s for England in all 3 formats

Twenty20 World Cup favourites England effectively sealed a place in the semi-finals after Jos Buttler's incendiary century fashioned a 26-run victory against Sri Lanka in their Group I match on Monday.

Put in to bat, England's batting looked under pressure for the first time in the tournament but Buttler's unbeaten 101 off 67 balls fired them to a strong 163-4.

Sri Lanka were 137 all out in 19 overs, threatening to pull off an upset at one stage, but Eoin Morgan's team went on to notch up their fourth victory in as many matches to consolidate their position as group leaders.

Former champions England are bidding to become the first team to hold the 20-overs and 50-overs World Cups at the same time.

"I'm incredibly proud of everything we've done tonight. I felt the guys had to fight unbelievably hard, particularly with the ball and in the first 10 overs with the bat," said England captain Eoin Morgan after the match.

"I thought Jos Buttler played one of his best ever innings in an England shirt. It was incredible to be at the other end and watch just the ebb and flow, and then just the sheer domination at the end. He really is one of the best in the game, a privilege to play with and great to have in our team," he added.

"I found it tough early on, the spinners especially tricky with the low bounce and they were hard to get away. So I'm really pleased to keep a calm head and work through it, back myself to come good at the end and start to target certain bowlers and at certain ends with a shorter side on one side. I felt like I used a lot of experience," said Buttler.

Sri Lanka's spinners dictated terms early in the match to restrict England to 36-3 after the powerplay overs.

But Buttler and skipper Eoin Morgan (40) decided to go after the pacers and hit Lahiru Kumara for three sixes in the 15th over.

With Buttler going berserk with the bat, England plundered 116 runs in the final 10 overs. The stumper-batsman brought up his maiden century in T20 Internationals with his sixth six off the final ball of the innings.