England 194 for 7 (Livingstone 87, Bethell 44, Salt 39, Short 5-22) beat Australia 193 for 6 (Fraser-McGurk 50, Inglis 42, Head 31) by three wickets
Bethell was handed his first England cap by Livingstone on Wednesday, having been mentored by him at Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred. They fed off one another: as Livingstone laid into Australia’s under-strength seam attack, Bethell took down their spinners – including four consecutive boundaries off Adam Zampa, which broke the back of the chase.
Bethell fell with 25 still needed, losing his off stump while reverse-sweeping, but Livingstone took England home. Given the responsibility of batting at No. 4 in a young side, Livingstone was playing for his England future this week but has delivered, twice top-scoring and taking five wickets in six overs.
It meant Livingstone addressed a long-standing charge against him: that he has often shown glimpses of his talent in international cricket, but has rarely won England a game. While he could not quite deliver the decisive blow – he was bowled trying to hit Short for six with scores tied – this was still a match-winning innings, featuring five sixes.
He sent a raucous, sold-out Cardiff crowd home happy. “I’ve struck the ball better, but in terms of situations, scenarios, I don’t really care about scoring runs in loses,” Livingstone said. “It’s all about winning games: I want to win games for England and today I feel like I’ve done that.”
The Rooster crows
Fraser-McGurk made a flying start of his own, hitting three consecutive boundaries off Sam Curran as Australia reached 67 for 1 off the Powerplay. After initially struggling to pick Adil Rashid, he then lofted a floaty legbreak back down the ground for a straight six – though Rashid then cleaned Short up for 28 with a trademark googly.
Livingstone kept things tight through the middle and had both Fraser-McGurk and Marcus Stoinis caught at wide long-on by Jamie Overton – though not before Fraser-McGurk had audaciously launched the profligate Topley over deep point for six.
Carse was hit for consecutive fours by Inglis – who made 42 – but had Tim David caught behind with his last ball. He finished with 2 for 26 in his first international match since serving a ban for breaching anti-gambling regulations, having replaced the rested Jofra Archer. But Overton shelled Cameron Green at deep midwicket, and Aaron Hardie punished Curran in the final over to lift Australia to 193.
England’s late wobble
Salt and Livingstone ticked over but Zampa briefly put the brakes on, and Head was rewarded for a bowling change which defied convention: using Short’s offspin against two right-handers. But Livingstone and Bethell combined to stunning effect, starting steadily before shifting gears to take Stoinis and Zampa down respectively.
England did their best to mess things up, with Short taking his first five-for of a 233-match professional career: Bethell was bowled reversing, Curran picked out extra cover, Livingstone ran past a straight one and Carse picked out mid-on. With Short on a hat-trick, Rashid steered the winning single away through point.
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
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