A Liam Livingstone masterclass secured England an unlikely victory and levelled the series in the West Indies, as the visitors chased down an imposing 329 in Antigua.
After England’s defeat in the opening match on Thursday, the captain implored his side to “bat smarter”. This is what he meant, as he prodded then crashed his way to a career-best and match-winning 124 not out. His first 50 had taken him 60 balls, his second took 17.
Faced with 329 to win after the West Indies captain, Shai Hope, made a superb 117, England showed the restraint that eluded them on Thursday when they were bowled out for 209, as on top of Livingstone’s century, Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran all made 50s.
Livingstone and Curran combined for the key partnership. With 169 to win from 22 overs and four wickets down, England were behind the game but not by miles.
Their 50 partnership arrived in 47 balls but soon they hit the brakes as the pair looked to take the contest as deep as possible. At one stage, they didn’t score a boundary for 34 balls before two arrived in consecutive deliveries.
It was only the beginning of the onslaught. The West Indies total of 328 was a record ODI total at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, and until Jayden Seales delivered the 45th over it looked like it would be enough, before Livingstone blazed 22 off five deliveries.
“There was no point at which I thought the game was out of touch,” said an exhausted Livingstone. “More than anything, I’m happy to have been able to lead from the front.”
Six weeks ago, England had dropped Livingstone for the ODIs against Australia before Jos Buttler’s calf injury gave him a route back in. In an honest conversation with managing director Rob Key, Livingstone said his one complaint was that he felt he hadn’t been given enough responsibility.
“I had two years when I should’ve done more than I did,” Livingstone explained. ”But I don’t always think I was given the responsibility that I wanted. It’s a two-way thing. I’ve just asked for a bit more responsibility. I’ve always believed in my abilities, especially in one-day cricket.
“People see me as this guy who can go in and smack a few sixes in a T20 innings, but I see myself as being able to hit more than a couple. I always believed I could do things like I did today.”
However, this was by no means the complete performance from England. Their showing in the field was bizarre, as four catches were dropped, sloppy fielding mistakes were made and stern words between teammates were traded.
For only the second time in England’s history, they used nine bowlers across an innings. In theory, it was Livingstone being proactive, but in reality, it came across as muddled. Of England’s four specialist bowlers in Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid and John Turner, only Rashid bowled his full allocation with the remaining three left with seven overs spare between them.
But where clarity was lacking in the field, it was present in abundance with the bat.
The winning moment came in a flash. With 26 required off 24 balls, Livingstone struck Shamar Joseph for three consecutive sixes and a four to leave two runs required off the last three overs.
A single from Dan Mousley meant that, fittingly, it was Livingstone who struck the winning runs and lifted his arms to the air in celebration. He had always asked for extra responsibility in an England shirt and today he proved why.
