Liam Livingstone leads England to series-levelling victory in West Indies

Liam Livingstone led from the front with a stunning unbeaten century as England successfully chased down 329 to send their ODI series against the West Indies to a decider.

The stand-in England captain reeled off nine sixes and five fours to get the tourists home by five wickets with 15 balls to spare in Antigua to set up s winner-takes-all match in Barbados on Wednesday.

After Phil Salt’s run-a-ball 59 and Jacob Bethell’s maiden international half-century, Livingstone put on 140 in 111 deliveries alongside Sam Curran to swing the contest firmly in England’s favour.

Curran was dismissed for 52 off as many deliveries with 29 still needed from the last 4.3 overs but Livingstone, with Dan Mousley for company, got the job done to finish on 124 not out from 85 balls.

Livingstone had earlier raised eyebrows by deploying nine bowlers for only the second time in England’s ODI history, with only wicketkeeper Salt and number three batter Jordan Cox not turning their arm over.

Shai Hope anchored the Windies to 328 for six with a fantastic 117 off 127 balls, putting on a restorative 143-stand with Keacy Carty, before cameos from several of their big-hitters.

But his innings was overshadowed by the belligerence of Livingstone, who made sure England chased down a 300-plus target in the format for the first time since July 2021.

They started brightly, too, as John Turner had both Windies openers back in the pavilion after 19 balls but Bethell, one of three fielders at point, grassed a half-chance over his head with Carty on eight.

The Windies rebuilt from 12 for two, with Carty strong square of the wicket and Hope driving fluently, punching Turner and Adil Rashid then whipping a Bethell drag down for sixes but otherwise striking the balance between aggression and accumulation.

Bethell’s extra bounce took the top edge of a cut when Hope was on 60 but Salt could not cling on while Turner put down Carty on 68 although that did not prove anywhere near as costly as the Windies number three was bowled through the gate by Rashid for 71 off 77 balls.

While England had been able to keep a lid on the scoring up until then, the efforts of Carty and Hope allowed Rutherford, followed by Shimron Hetmyer and Matthew Forde, to go into attack mode straightaway.

The trio contributed nine of the Windies’ 14 sixes as the hosts collected 174 in the last 20 overs. Rutherford made a sparkling 54 off 36 balls and there were supercharged cameos of 24 from Hetmyer, dropped on three in the deep by Will Jacks, and 23no from Forde.

Hope reached a 118-ball hundred then deposited Rashid over deep midwicket before thumping to long-off but the Windies finished on top as Forde belted three consecutive sixes in Saqib Mahmood’s last over.

England required a ground record total to level the series, while they had not chased down 300-plus in nearly three-and-a-half years.

While Jacks perished early on on the pull, Salt’s timing was impeccable as he underpinned a robust powerplay total of 58 for one, but Cox had a curious 19-ball stay, making just four singles before a half-hearted pull off a vicious Shamar Joseph bumper landed in Hope’s gloves.

Bethell has been earmarked as a superstar-in-the-making and showed a terrific aptitude, scoring all around the wicket but especially strong on the pull, muscling Roston Chase for six to bring up his first fifty in an England shirt.

Chase had his revenge when Bethell picked out long-off on 55 but Livingstone and Curran, the two most experienced campaigners in England’s rookie top-six, got to work, doing plenty of hard running initially.

Livingstone only found the boundary three times in reaching a 60-ball fifty but he lit the touch paper with a slog sweep in the 41st over off the unusually expensive Motie, who was deposited into the stands twice more by the Cumbrian.

With Curran content to hold the fort, Livingstone took 26 off Jayden Seales’ wayward over before bringing up a 77-ball ton shortly after, celebrating with a kiss of the helmet.

Joseph conceded 24 from what turned out to be the penultimate over as three full tosses were belted for six by Livingstone, who fittingly hit the winning run shortly after.