Sir Alastair Cook dinner has hailed Liam Livingstone’s “coming-of-age” knock after England’s stand-in captain hit his maiden ODI century in opposition to West Indies to degree the sequence and arrange a decider.
Livingstone, who was dropped for September’s one-day internationals in opposition to Australia earlier than starring within the T20 fixtures, has since been appointed stand-in skipper following Jos Buttler’s calf harm – and led his workforce to victory on Saturday with an unbeaten 124 off 85 balls.
Having fallen to an eight-wicket defeat to the hosts within the opener on the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday – Livingstone prime scoring with 48 – the vacationers have been criticised for not having the ability to convert their good begins.
“Fair play to him [Livingstone]. He was under a bit of scrutiny and pressure after Thursday’s game,” former England captain Cook dinner instructed TNT Sports activities.
“It was a coming-of-age knock. It was completely good; 46 off 57 balls – that is so not like what we have normally seen of Livingstone.
“He went up and down the gears and to have the starvation to be there on the finish was good. The final 78 runs got here off 28 balls. That’s some freakish energy.
“In the event you had guys who should not on this workforce, like [Harry] Brook, [Joe] Root, [Ben] Duckett, and have Livingstone as a finisher at No 5, then that is a harmful 50-over top-order.
“He’s had the opportunity to lead your country and that’s a huge honour. He will go to bed satisfied. It’s only after he got dropped that he started batting at No 5.
“There’s not many locations you may disguise the ball to him. Not many gamers have the power to hit three sixes [in a row]. He is not premediating, he is reacting with nice talent and readability to hit the ball so clearly.”
Cook dinner was additionally filled with reward for the character proven by Livingstone’s team-mates to bounce again from their heavy defeat to maintain the sequence alive, with Jacob Bethell, Phil Salt and Sam Curran additionally scoring fifties.
He added: “They were poor on Thursday but today everyone had match-toughness. Salt played well and the pitch suited him with the ball coming on to him. He likes that.
“I used to be impressed by Bethell’s maturity He received into the tempo rather well. These guys have been constructed on T20 cricket and The Hundred. In 50-over cricket you’ve a lot extra time to absorb stress.”
Livingstone stated he is again to having fun with cricket once more
After his knock, Livingstone stated England wished to take dangers and strengthened his facet’s attacking mentality.
“There’s certain things I’ve done in practice at the end of the summer in England where I felt like I was getting back to my best,” Livingstone instructed TNT Sports activities.
“Just maturing a little bit and knowing my game pretty well and back enjoying cricket. Ultimately, that’s the main thing, I play well when I’m enjoying it.
“We wished to take dangers early on. I attempted to get myself going after which set it up for the tip and goal their dying bowling. It labored completely in the long run.
“Curran played beautifully. I’ve batted a lot with him so I knew I could trust him. We needed someone to get a big score and that’s what we did today.
“I believe we have been nice with the ball too. Total, a fairly first rate workforce efficiency and we’re again within the sequence.”
West Indies vs England schedule (all occasions UK and Eire)
- First ODI: Antigua – West Indies win by eight wickets (DLS)
- Second ODI: Antigua – England win by 5 wickets
- Third ODI: Barbados – Wednesday November 6 (6pm)
- First T20: Barbados – Saturday November 9 (8pm)
- Second T20: Barbados – Sunday November 10 (8pm)
- Third T20: St Lucia – Thursday November 14 (8pm)
- Fourth T20: St Lucia – Saturday November 16 (8pm)
- Fifth T20: St Lucia – Sunday November 17 (8pm)
Comply with England’s white-ball tour of West Indies throughout Sky Sports activities‘ digital platforms with dwell blogs and reviews. The third and ultimate one-day worldwide is in Barbados on Wednesday (6pm begin UK and Eire).
