uk 329 for 5 (Livingstone 124*, Salt 59, Bethell 55, Curran 52, Forde 3-48) beats. west indies 328 for six for five wickets (Hope 117, Carty 71, Rutherford 54).
The fact that she was Livingstone’s maiden over 50 centuries ago is one thing. But leading an inexperienced group, he deserves the highest praise as he took charge in such remarkable fashion to take England home chasing 329 and square the series 1-1.
The final acceleration that brought victory with 15 balls to spare was most evident as Livingstone approached the final 10 overs with 100 overs remaining. He entered the period 57-of-46 before recording 78 strikeouts in his final 28 deliveries.
However, things did not work out as England featured nine bowlers for the second time in an ODI. The fact that they could have dismissed Hope on the 60th also hurt them deeply.
Consolidation at 12 to 2 was the early target for Hope and Carty who could have been eliminated at 8. England’s squeeze involved three fielders at back point, but Bethell in the middle was able to block Carty’s crooked drive to hand Turner his third dismissal.
The pair hit 2 for 41 in the Powerplay and were up for 10 with Hope’s first boundary. A stunning back-foot launch over cover for a six from Turner. A brace of straight drives from Saqib Mahmood (the only change to the XI from the first ODI with Jamie Overton absent) and a second six by Adil Rashid lofted over covers were followed by a quiet spin.
Once the initial losses were offset, risks were taken to speed up execution. But it was a poor defensive push that should have ended his innings on 60 as Bethell cleared midwicket after falling short to score his 42nd 50-plus score off 66 deliveries. Bethell’s edge protruded from his hand. Salt behind the stump.
Carty soon moved on to his fourth ODI fifty off 62 deliveries. He then got two lives when a top edge took Turner over the boundary at deep fine leg, before the fielder dropped an even simpler chance off the very next ball. Both came when Archer was planning on short balls.
That miss cost them just three runs as Rashid came back to bowl Carty through the gate early in the 31st over. But this put Rutherford in crisis, and he ended up with seven boundaries – three of them sixes – in his fifth half-century off 35 deliveries.
Although he lost the ball later – caught at deep cover trying to replicate a six in the same area that took him to 50 – Hetmyer’s blistering 11 for 24 kept the pressure on. He also fell to second on a long-on by Will Jacks.
When Hetmyer was sacked and caught by Archer in the ditch on a Rashid googly, Hope pressed the accelerator. After attempting a drive off the 118th delivery to move to 100, he hit Rashid wide long-on for a four and a six and the 36-year-old was 13 not out in the final over.
Hope, desperately trying to throw his bat at anything sent his way, misread Archer’s slow delivery which was well taken by Livingstone, who was charging long on. Forde then picked up the baton in the final succession, hitting three sixes in a row against Mahmood in the final to lift the hosts to 328 for six.
England shot themselves in the foot with four drops, but were also guilty of ignoring opportunities for immediate correction with the bat. Salt turned his back to start the innings, shrugged off Jacks loss in the bottom of the fifth and looked his way to redemption, contributing 36 of England’s first 50 runs.
Bethell arrived in England and made 107 for 3 with the 20-over mark when Shamar Joseph, who was making his ODI debut with his namesake Alzarri, got past Jordan Cox at the break and hit 4 for 19 deliveries. .
Both are responsible for giving up control. Salt skied Forde’s first ball of his new spell for 59 early in the 21st, while Bethell handed the Roston Chase into the hands of the long-distance runner after reaching his maiden international 50.
But the duo of Livingston and Curran, players who still have a lot to prove despite their experience, were unfazed. Curran initially took the reins as the attacker and started smartly with an opening six from Motie. Noticing there was an extra defender in the outfield meant the umpire would call it a no ball. He contributed 31 of his initial 50 for the fifth wicket before Livingstone decided it was all up to him after five overs without a boundary until the final 10 overs.
The starter pistol was set for Motie to charge down the ground to bring up 50 off 60 deliveries, before he swept deep midwicket off the very next delivery to sign off for 41. Motie’s straight six in the next over – his second to bring up a century stand since 92 – also found the grass embankment.
Pace then got the ball back, which further worked in Livingstone’s favour. Dan Mousley did his bit off the tee when Curran dismissed the ball after the skipper had moved his 77th ball to 100. The most important thing was to give Livingstone the strike that gave him the winning honours, at the start of the 48th over.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is the Editor-in-Chief of ESPNcricinfo.
