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Liam Livingstone produced a blistering match-winning display in the Hundred that came with an unexpected sledge from his friend, which followed a revenge in the end. The Birmingham Phoenix star hammered an unbeaten 69 off just 27 balls to lead his side to their first win of the season, toppling defending champions Oval Invincibles in dramatic fashion at Edgbaston on Saturday.
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Livingstone revealed that his close friend and England teammate Tom Curran didn’t spare him during the game, stating that the all-rounder fat-shamed him.
“I have no idea why Tom started to spray me,” Livingstone told BBC Two.
“He is one of my good friends and he called me a fat slob or something so I thought ‘let’s hope you don’t go for a few if you come back at the death’ and he did so I’m kind of happy with that.”
Curran’s words came back to haunt him in the penultimate set of five deliveries. With Phoenix needing 22 off the final 10 balls, he returned to bowl the 91-95 ball stretch and was dispatched for two sixes, a four, a two and a single; 19 runs in all, leaving just three needed from the last five deliveries. Despite a couple of late wickets, the target was comfortably chased down, sealing a four-wicket win.
“Very special, we needed it,” Livingstone said at the post-match presentation. “They’re a great team, won it two years in a row. Nice to get one over them and hopefully give us some momentum. [The approach was to] try and get used to the pitch and use the bounce, try and take down their spinners. I back myself if bowlers miss, I can hit, and thankfully it came off.”
Livingstone smashing Rashid Khan
A defining moment of Livingstone’s knock came against one of the world’s premier bowlers, Rashid Khan. The England batter smashed 26 runs in just five balls off the Afghan leg-spinner – three sixes and two fours – making him the first player in T20 history (the Hundred is classified under the format for statistical purposes) to score more than 200 career runs against Rashid.
“I’ve got a pretty good record just by stepping across and slogging him. It’s worked in the past. I can’t pick him so just try to do it that way,” Livingstone admitted.
The Phoenix, who had been languishing at the bottom of the table, now hope this performance can serve as a turning point in their campaign. Still, the all-rounder was quick to acknowledge that there is room for improvement. “We let ourselves down a bit in the field. Something we don’t want to do. Great win, got ourselves back into the tournament,” he said.
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