In the second one-day international that took place on Sunday in Southampton, England prevailed against New Zealand by 79 runs thanks to an unbeaten 95 by Liam Livingstone.
As a result of rain, the match was shortened to 34 overs for each team, and England’s score crumbled to 8-3. On October 5, England will begin their defense of their World Cup championship against New Zealand in Ahmedabad.
When Livingstone came into bat in the 13th over, they were still in a difficult position, with a score of 55-5.
However, he guided England to a score of 226-7, and New Zealand was then bowled out for 147, which allowed the hosts to draw level in the four-game series at 1-1.
Left-arm fast Reece Topley took three wickets in one-day international cricket, ending a drought of more than a year, and left-arm quick David Willey took three wickets as well.
Trent Boult, a legend of New Zealand cricket, was playing in his 100th one-day international (and his first in nearly a year) when he took the first three England wickets to fall. The experienced left-arm fast removed Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, and Ben Stokes from England’s batting lineup.
But Livingstone’s career-best one-day international innings, which was a testament to his poise as much as his famed hitting power, bolstered the total and enhanced his chances of being selected for England’s final 15-man World Cup squad.
Sam Curran, who was also an all-rounder, provided tremendous support to Liam Livingstone during their sixth-wicket partnership of 112, which took place in 77 balls.
Finn Allen, a big-hitting batsman for New Zealand, was bowled by Willey for a duck on the second delivery of their pursuit, which resulted in their loss to England in the tense 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s that went to a Super Over. This led to New Zealand’s defeat, which resulted in England winning the tournament.
After scoring a hundred during Friday’s thrashing of England in Cardiff by eight wickets, Devon Conway was subsequently dismissed for 14 after being caught behind by quick bowler Gus Atkinson.
After that, off-spinner Moeen Ali struck twice in three balls, and Daryl Mitchell, who, like Conway, reached a century in Cardiff, fell for 57. This put New Zealand on the verge of defeat at 140-8, and Willey finished off the tail to end the innings.
Earlier, after New Zealand captain Tom Latham won the toss at a cloudy Rose Bowl, Boult decimated the top order for England’s batting lineup with his devastating bowling.
Mitchell Santner made a spectacular one-handed catch of Jonny Bairstow when he was flying at cover for Boult, and then two balls later, Boult dismissed Joe Root with an inswinging ball for a second-ball nought. It was Root’s fourth innings without scoring in his previous ten One-Day Internationals.
When Stokes (one) miscued Boult, England was already three wickets down. Boult, who was 34 years old at the time, got an impressive three wickets while allowing no runs in eight balls.
Jos Buttler, the captain of England, struck a promising 30 runs before under-edging a delivery from Santner, a left-arm spinner, into his stumps.
However, Livingstone and Mooen (33) were able to stem the decline in their team’s performance during a stand that lasted 48 runs before Curran provided new momentum with sixes off of spinners Rachin Ravindra and Santner.
On one of England’s biggest fields, Livingstone displayed his game awareness by delaying the striking of a six until 73 balls into his innings, at which point he pulled paceman Matt Henry. This occurred after Livingstone had faced 73 balls.
However, by the time the last over began, he was unable to strike while approaching a score of one hundred.
Wednesday marks the continuation of the series at the Oval.