CARDIFF: Liam Livin­gstone smashed a magnificent 87 from 47 balls as England beat Australia by three wickets at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens on Friday to level their three match T20 series 1-1 and set up a Sunday decider in Manchester.

Livingstone’s second half century in his 50th T20 match for England set the crowd rocking and came after Australia, with Jake Fraser-McGurk hitting his first international 50, had set the hosts a target of 194.

Captain Phil Salt hit three successive sixes in the third over before Sean Abbott pegged England back with two quick wickets in the fourth, Fraser-McGurk catching Will Jacks for 12 before Jordan Cox was bowled for a second ball duck.

Salt went for 39 off 23 balls, caught by Abbott, but the experienced Livingstone’s tremendous partnership with newcomer Jacob Bethell (44 from 24) steadied the hosts and set them on the path to victory.

Livingstone hit six fours and five sixes before he was bowled by Matt Short -- who ended his evening with five wickets -- with one run required.

Adil Rashid came in and closed the game out with a quick single and six balls remaining as England equalled the highest successful T20 run chase at Sophia Gardens.

The victory cancelled Wedn­esday’s opening 28 run defeat in Southampton.

“I feel like I’m in decent nick with bat and bowl. I’m enjoying my cricket, it’s nice to play with a smile on my face,” Livin­gstone, player of the match, told Sky Sports television. “Bethell is an incredible talent. He’s got a great head on young shoulders. Exciting talent. He’s a fearless kid and to play like that is pretty special.”

Australia had Travis Head captaining Australia for the first time in place of the unwell Mitchell Marsh but he was unable to repeat Wednesday’s fireworks and was despatched for 31 off 14 balls after England won the toss.

Rashid made the catch after Head struck straight to him at point off Brydon Carse’s second ball of the match in the fifth over. Australia were 67-1 after the powerplay and 87-2 when Rashid clean bowled opener Short for 28 off 24 balls.

Fraser-McGurk reached his 50 from 31 deliveries but was then caught by Jamie Overton off Livingstone two balls later with Australia on 119-3.

“I’ve done some No.3 work in the Big Bash and IPL so it wasn’t foreign. Just the first time I did it in international cricket,” said the Australian. “I was just happy to get above 20 for the first time in a while.”

Overton repeated his catch, for Livingstone’s second wicket, after Marcus Stoinis lofted the ball high to him at long on and was out for two with the visitors at 131-4.

Tim David walked at 157-5 after a player review, caught behind by Salt off a short ball from Carse and Josh Inglish followed him, this time caught by Carse on Sam Curran’s first of the over with Australia 157-6.

“We got a really good score and we got really close,” said Head. “You do your best and it doesn’t always work. Jake Fraser-McGurk played nicely. We didn’t get the win and we move on to Manchester.”

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA:

M. Short b Rashid 28

T. Head c Rashid b Carse 31

J. Fraser-McGurk c Overton b Livingstone 50

J. Inglis c Carse b Curran 42

M. Stoinis c Overton b Livingstone 2

T. David c Salt b Carse 1

C. Green not out 13

A. Hardie not out 20

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-4) 6

TOTAL (for six wickets, 20 overs) 193

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-52 (Head), 2-87 (Short), 3-119 (Fraser-McGurk), 4-131 (Stoinis), 5-157 (David), 6-157 (Inglis)

DID NOT BAT: C. Connolly, S. Abbott,

A. Zampa

BOWLING: R. Topley 3-0-40-0 (2w), Mahmood 3-0-37-0, Carse 4-0-26-2, Curran 3-0-37-1 (2w), Rashid 4-0-35-1, Livingstone 3-0-16-2

ENGLAND:

P. Salt c Abbott b Short 39

W. Jacks c Fraser-McGurk b Abbott 12

J. Cox b Abbott 0

L. Livingstone b Short 87

J. Bethell b Short 44

S. Curran c Connolly b Short 1

J. Overton not out 4

B. Carse c David b Short 0

A. Rashid not out 1

EXTRAS (W-6) 6

TOTAL (for seven wickets, 19 overs) 194

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-34 (Jacks), 2-34 (Cox), 3-79 (Salt), 4-169 (Bethell), 5-171 (Curran), 6-193 (Livingstone), 7-193 (Carse)

DID NOT BAT: S. Mahmood, R. Topley

BOWLING: Hardie 2-0-23-0 (1w), Connolly 2-0-20-0 (2w), Abbott 4-0-37-2 (1w), Stoinis 2-0-31-0, Green 2-0-24-0 (1w), Zampa 4-0-37-0, Short 3-0-22-5 (1w)

RESULT: England won by three wickets.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2024