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) with three wickets
Bethell was given his first England cap by Livingstone on Wednesday after being coached by him at Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred. They inspired each other: While Livingstone attacked Australia’s faltering seam attack, Bethell took down their spinners – including four consecutive boundaries from Adam Zampa that put an end to the chase.
Bethell retired with 25 to spare, losing his off stump on the reverse sweep, but Livingstone took England home. Given the responsibility of batting at number 4 in a young side, Livingstone was playing for his England future this week, but he delivered, top-scoring twice and taking five wickets in six overs.
Livingstone was thus responding to a long-standing accusation that he had often shown flashes of talent in international cricket but had rarely won a match for England. Although he did not manage to hit the decisive blow – he was bowled out when the score was tied while trying to hit Short for six – this was still a match-deciding innings with five sixes.
He sent a loud, sold-out Cardiff crowd home happy. “I’ve hit the ball better than that but in terms of situations and scenarios, I don’t really care if I score points when I lose,” 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 got off to a flying start himself, hitting three consecutive boundaries off Sam Curran as Australia reached 67 for 1 in the Powerplay. After initially struggling to catch Adil Rashid, he then smashed a floating legbreak back to the ground for a straight six – but Rashid then cleared Short with a trademark googly for 28.
Livingstone kept things tight in the middle and had both Fraser-McGurk and Marcus Stoinis caught by Jamie Overton at wide long-on – but not before Fraser-McGurk had boldly tossed the wasteful Topley over deep point for six.
Carse hit two consecutive fours from Inglis, who scored 42, but Tim David was caught behind him with his last ball. He finished with 2 for 26 in his first international match since being banned for breaching anti-gambling regulations, having replaced the rested Jofra Archer. But Overton blasted Cameron Green at deep midwicket and Aaron Hardie punished Curran in the last over, leaving Australia for 193.
England’s late stumble
Salt and Livingstone went well, but Zampa slowed briefly and Head was rewarded for a change of bowling that defied convention: he used shorts offspin against two right-handers. But Livingstone and Bethell combined to astonishing effect, playing steadily at first before switching gears and bringing down Stoinis and Zampa respectively.
England did their best to mess things up and Short picked up his first five-for in a professional career spanning 233 matches: Bethell was bowled backwards, Curran chose extra cover, Livingstone ran past a straight and Carse chose mid-on. With Short on a hat-trick, Rashid steered the winning single away through point.
Matt Roller is deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98