Liam Livingstone’s Devastating 124 Not Out From 85 Balls

Stand in captain of the English team broke barriers and smashed the ball all around the arena as he single handedly leveled the Second ODI against the West Indies having brought the six number of sixes to nine and total number of fours to five. This was a crunching inning after Phil Salt opened up with a round off fifty nine runs and Jacob Bethell in his debut international score fifty runs as well for the very first time.

He flips two low full tosses from Shamar Joseph for six, then clubs another down the ground off Roston Chase.

In the 21st over England lost three wickets and were on 107. After the match started to heat up as Bethel and Livingstone started to bolster runs the last straw was pulled by Matthew Forde as he brought in Phil Salt who struggled and chased after a ball only to yet again witness a clap of Bethel who longed off the ball for a fifty. After that the Bethels New ‘Try’ overshadowed the Building, Bethel pushed a ball into the stadium costing his team fifty. Livingstone after this made great advancements with ease pushing the boundaries further and further. Livingstone recorded a New high as he not only reached 50 runs but crossed it and went onwards to make 100 runs in a match turning over the tables in no time. Still in top form Livingstone again showed skill making a six by pushing mid wickets back with just two of Moties balls.

An excellent innings from the all-rounder of Lancashire, coming in as a great hand! His score of 124 not out off 85 balls was indeed a career best in ODIs for him. He also had partnerships of 126 runs with Sherfane Rutherford and an unbroken one of 142 runs with Sam Curran.

A great victory has been achieved by an inexperienced English side. The series will now be decided during the third ODI that will take place on Wednesday in Barbados. And for Livingstone this could be an outstanding moment. Previously, he had been branded a failure in his earlier internations but now he has provided evidence of the kind of innings that transforms a career. He clenched his fists after his final run and will hope it will only be the beginning of many more. The win has restored some pride to England after their mauling in the first ODI on Thursday.

Livingstone 46 in 57 balls So instead, you might wonder, who filled in? Jos Buttler’s daughter, Louise. Some other frequent visitors to England were also absent because there was a cluster of overseas’ cricketing events just before Christmas. With such guiding details, it is not difficult to fathom how England achieved their remarkable series leveling win over West Indies in Antigua. To enable that In his 66 balls encounter, he went over the line with his one hundred after hitting two fours and four sixes. That contest was just too close to call, and always almost impossible to win for Livingstone. If that wasn’t enough, Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, and Sam Curran also combined to better the previous best score in that venue by over one hundred runs, smashing a mind-blowing 140 balls in only 107 balls.

However, for other English cricketers, it wasn’t enough. It was only a matter of time before England broke the deadlock. The end result was England moving from a precarious position of seeing themselves at 93-4, to losing in less than 3 hours to nearly tying it twenty minutes. It was both an easy and complicated strategy: as evidenced by his slap over Leah for six, he drove him hard toward four.

As a result of England’s dismal performance in recent series, pressure has mounted in the final ODI. Motie was dispatched for a six and a four by Livingstone during the final twenty overs. Continuing his violent show, as England accelerated towards victory, he hit Motie for another massive hit at deep midwicket before hitting a power shot at long on for four. The left hander scored straight over square leg and England was barely 20 runs away from victory with ten overs to spare. England, who had previously struggled, crossed ten runs shortly after when Curran sliced Forde toward Hetmyer. But before getting anxious, Livingstone gave reason for joy instead. England lost two of their openers before he came in but he launched a powerful blow on his first ball, bringing the exhilarating match to an end.

Livingstone finished with a remarkable strike rate of 234.2, scoring 82 off 35 balls.

With one of his spectacular one-day international innings, Livingstone tends to own his opposition. With this performance, he single-handedly ensured England’s victory over West Indies and made sure England fought back in the ODI series. Livingstone managed easy singles and left some balls outside off with some intent. After a 140-run unbroken partnership with Sam Curran, he scored off the last 17 balls. With salt and Bethell, both with 50 runs each, England reached the score of 329-5, securing the series with more than 15 minutes on the clock.

Even the absence of all openers and Shai Hope in the first inning did not stop West Indies as the combination of Keacy Carty and Sherfane Rutherford secured a score of 143. However, Livingstone was out of form throughout the visit and managed to score 85 unchallenged with 2 five and four 2 threes against West Indies Hurracaine’s pace and will spin dry Zor Basran.

Keacy Carty ha les a couple of fours before Livingstone managed to score four runs on a single ball against Gudakesh Motie which added a lot of entertainment and shook plants. He then fired an over mid-wicket against Joseph next earning him another six. After that he blasted a full coverage toss over the extra cover making his score of 6 off 3 balls, a similar turn up as 0 which earned him four and a stop. Three more fours followed in Waseem Muhammad Ali Forde’s over as he repeated the streak. Livingstone raced to 124 off 85 blasts rubbing dumps into Joseph’s over while hitting accommodation. Cumbrian pulled two thousands fists up as he headed towards excitement. He whacked 76 of final 10 overs leading England into success.

Livingstone remained unbeaten at the crease at 124 after facing 85 balls.

Of the two captains who scored centuries, Liam Livingstone was the favourite as his 124 not out off 85 balls overshadowed Shai Hope’s more subdued century, which was the deciding factor as England triumphed over the West Indies by 5 wickets. This also meant the series was leveled at 1 all after this match.

Livingstone was relatively quiet ever since a week go when he was eight runs short of a half century and England lost against the same opponents but this time showed his blistering form scoring a total of 329-6 after only 29 overs. His 127 run partnership with Sam Curran was vital as the match ended with a successful second highest successful ODI chase within the span of 15 overs.

Livingstone stayed patient playing the first few balls slowly but as the innings progressed, Livingstone played aggressively. This was made easier when Phil Salt got off to a brilliant start as well as Jacob Bethell scoring a half century. He was later able to easily ensure victory after scoring 24 off Rehan Ahmed and another 22 off Shamar Joseph to win the game.

He slapped a low full-toss in the Forde match for six, then hit a ninth off the same bowler in this innings, and hammered a fourth straight four down the ground. He was causing havoc in the stadium as he crossed his century mark. Six weeks earlier, he was nowhere in the frame of England’s ODI squad, but going by this performance, he could easily be seen in the Champions Trophy, probably at the number five slot. Surely, he has got the power to go up to the maximum.