Liam Livingstone (2/16 and 87 off 47) starred with his all-round performance to guide England to a three-wicket against Australia in the second Twenty20 International (T20) at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Saturday.
England chased down the target of 194 runs with six balls to spare with Livingstone starting off the proceedings in the penultimate over with a maximum over long-on. He stepped up to hit the delivery from Matthew Short out-of-the-park with an incredible bat swing to bring the hosts closer to the target.
Check the monstrous hit here:
Never get sick of watching Liam Livingstone slog. Absolute monster of a slogger pic.twitter.com/1xE3xfQ28F
— T-Bag (@TheodRRRe) September 14, 2024
Livingstone has been a key figure for England in the shortest format. He had a decent season for the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred Men’s Competition and Lancashire in the Vitality Blast.
However, his body has not been in the best shape, in the last few months which he revealed during the post-match interview.
“It is not easy coming in a five, six or seven. So moving up the order it gives me a bit more responsibility, time to bat, and I feel I am in decent nick at the moment with bat and ball,” said Livingstone, who has been hampered by injuries in recent years.
“Towards the end of the Hundred, I felt I was getting my body back to normal, which is a thing that has bothered me the last couple of years.
“It has taught me a few life lessons but I am enjoying my cricket and playing with a smile on my face.”
Livingstone has a phenomenal strike rate of 151 in the shortest format.
