England drew level with Australia in the three-match T20 series in the second encounter in Cardiff on Friday, September 13. Given how the first 28 overs of the game went, it looked like a repeat of the series opener, however, Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell had other ideas as they made Australia, who were a bowler less, pay with what was a beautiful wicket of batting despite it looking a little chilly in the conditions at Sofia Gardens as England cruised home by three wickets.
Livingstone, who has not been at his best in recent months, is slowly getting back to his best. He has been fantastic with the ball in the series but finally came into his own with the bat when England needed him most. With a total of 194, England were in a similar position to the first T20I, having lost a couple of wickets early on.
Stand-in captain Phil Salt was on course to lead his side alongside Livingstone into a position of strength before he was dismissed by Matt Short to put Australia ahead. However, Salt’s 39 from 23 balls had ensured England were in and close to the pace required for the incoming batsmen to bowl straight away.
Jacob Bethell, for whom Adam Zampa He proved too good in the series opener on debut, and he made amends and in a rather destructive fashion. Livingstone continued his fine run despite losing Salt and, as Australia had to drop players like Cameron Green and Marco Stoinis Since he was short a pitcher, he feasted on them. Bethell, on the other hand, took care of Zampa.
After an 18-run over on Stoinis where Livingstone basically put him out of the attack, Bethell went 4,6,4,4 against Zampa, something not many have done these days against the leg-spinner to kill the chase.
Livingstone completed his half-century and an England victory looked a formality before stand-in captain Travis Head reintroduced Matt Short, who later broke loose with the ball, but perhaps a little too late.
Short first broke the 90-run partnership between Livingstone and Bethell by dismissing the latter. He then sent back Sam Curran in the same over to give the Englishmen in the dugout a bit of a scare.
Livingstone smashed Short in his next over before dismissing him too and taking one more to complete his five-wicket haul out of nowhere. By then, however, the match was already decided, with England needing just one to win.
Earlier, it was Jake Fraser-McGurk’s first half-century in international cricket and cameos from Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglish and Cameron Green that helped Australia get close to 200. Head got off to a fast start once again before Brydon Carse, who came in for Jofra Archer, put the brakes on the scoring. However, the eventual 193, despite being a good score, was not enough in the end.
The series is set for a thrilling finale in the decider in Manchester on Sunday 15 September.
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