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West Indies vs England: Liam Livingstone’s century was a blow to growing up, says Sir Alastair Cook | Cricket News

Posted on by L. Dreeye
West Indies vs England: Liam Livingstone’s century was a blow to growing up, says Sir Alastair Cook | Cricket News

Sir Alastair Cook hailed Liam Livingstone’s “coming of age” after the England stand-in captain made his maiden ODI century against the West Indies to level the series and set up a decider.

Livingstone, who was out for September’s one-day international against Australia before starring in the T20 matches, has since been named standby captain following Jos Buttler’s calf injury – and led his side to victory on Saturday with an unbeaten 124 off 85 balls .

Having suffered an eight-wicket DLS defeat to the hosts in the first match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday (Livingston’s best score was 48), the tourists were criticized for failing to capitalize on their good start.

However, their five-wicket win on Saturday showed they had learned their lessons, with former captain Cook praising Livingstone’s resilience.

“Fair play to him (Livingston). He was under a lot of scrutiny and pressure after Thursday’s game,” Cook told TNT Sports.

“It was a coming-of-age strike. It was absolutely brilliant: 46 off 57 – so different from what we usually see from Livingston.”

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“He went up and down the passes and to have the desire to be there at the end was great. There were 28 goals scored in the last 78 runs. This is some incredible power.

“When you have guys who aren’t in this team like (Harry) Brooke, (Joe) Root, (Ben) Duckett and Livingston finishing at number 5, then that’s a dangerous top 50.”

“He had the opportunity to lead your country and it is a huge honor. He will go to bed happy. It was only after he was dropped that he started batting at No. 5.”

“There aren’t many places you can hide a ball. Not many players can hit three sixes. He doesn’t act in advance, he reacts with great skill and clarity to hit the ball so clearly.”

England captain Liam Livingstone (left) with Adil Rashid (centre) and Phil Salt (right) after their defeat to the West Indies in the opening ODI in Antigua.
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Adil Rashid took two wickets as West Indies guided England to victory by 329 runs.

Cook also praised the character shown by Livingston’s teammates in recovering from the heavy defeat to save the series.

“They were bad on Thursday, but today everyone had stamina. (Phil) Salt played well and the pitch suited him and the ball came to him. He likes it.”

“I was impressed with (Jacob) Bethell’s maturity. He got into the tempo very well. These guys are based on T20 cricket and The Hundred. In 50-over cricket you have a lot more time to handle the pressure.”

On the balance of England’s bowling attack, Cook added: “They look better with three seamers.

“I don’t think you need to use nine bowlers, but (Michael) Pepper can come in. However, I don’t think anyone deserves to be left out after a performance like that.

“I think England will pick the same side (in the final ODI).”

Liam Livingstone scored 124 not out off 85 balls to lead England to a five-wicket win over the West Indies in the second ODI.
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Livingston says he is enjoying cricket again

Following his knock, Livingstone said England were willing to take risks and reinforced his team’s attacking mentality.

“There are certain things I did in practice at the end of the summer in England that I felt like I was getting back to my best,” Livingston said. TNT Sports.

“Just matured a bit, know my game well and am enjoying cricket again. At the end of the day, that’s the main thing, I play well when I enjoy it.”

“We wanted to take risks from the very beginning. I tried to pull myself together and then set myself up for the end and aim for their death bowling. It worked out perfectly in the end.”

“(Sam) Curran played great. I batted a lot with him, so I knew I could trust him. We needed someone who could score big and that’s what we did today.

“I thought we handled the ball really well too. Overall, a pretty decent team performance and we’re back in the series.”

West Indies vs England fixtures schedule (all times UK and Ireland)

  • First ODI: Antigua – West Indies win by eight wickets (DLS)
  • Second ODI: Antigua – England win by five wickets
  • Third ODI: Barbados – Wednesday, November 6 (18:00)
  • First T20: Barbados – Saturday, November 9 (20:00)
  • Second T20: Barbados – Sunday, November 10 (20:00)
  • Third T20: Saint Lucia – Thursday, November 14 (20:00)
  • Fourth T20: Saint Lucia – Saturday, November 16 (20:00)
  • Fifth T20: Saint Lucia – Sunday, November 17 (20:00)

Follow England’s tour of the West Indies Sky Sportdigital platforms with live blogs and reports. The third and final one-day international will take place in Barbados on Wednesday 6 November (kick-off 6pm in UK and Ireland).