Livingstone, seamers put Kiwis to the sword in series-levelling win

A career-best knock from Liam Livingstone backed up by a disciplined bowling effort saw England register a thumping 79-run win over New Zealand in the second ODI in Southampton on Sunday (September 10). The four-match ODI series is now level 1-1 with two games left to play.

Chasing a competitive target of 227 from the allotted 34 overs, New Zealand started on a wobbly note as Finn Allen fell for a duck to David Willey in the very first over. Devon Conway and Will Young then went about building the innings with the latter looking extremely fluent at the crease. On the other hand, Conway looked rusty and struggled to get his tempo going. After surviving a series of close calls including reversing an on-field call with DRS, Conway eventually succumbed to the pressure to nick one behind. Very soon, Young found himself back in the hut due to a sloppy piece of running between the wickets.

It was the perfect start for England to the second half and their bowlers kept plugging away in the right areas. Reece Topley gave good support to Willey with the new ball while Gus Atkinson worked up serious steam as the first change bowler. They all pounded away on that hard length and kept it tight to cramp the batters. Daryl Mitchell once again started well but with wickets falling at the other end, he had too much to do. The Black Caps lost wickets in clumps far too often and that hurt them.

The defining moment of the second half was the 23rd over of the innings bowled by Topley. He first held onto a sensational return catch to remove Glenn Phillips and then got Rachin Ravindra in the same over to effectively push New Zealand to the brink. It meant that only Mitchell Santner was remaining as a dependable batter to support Mitchell and the latter eventually perished for 57 in trying to keep up with the mounting asking rate. Moeen Ali chipped in with two wickets, including the big one of Mitchell but the game was arguably done even before that dismissal.

As much as England's bowlers need to be lauded for their standout show, it was Livingstone masterclass earlier in the day that allowed the hosts to have a shot at winning the game. Put into bat after a lengthy delay, the home side were 8/3 thanks to Trent Boult's fiery opening burst with Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Ben Stokes all back in the hut. It soon became 55/5 as Harry Brook and skipper Jos Buttler also departed. New Zealand held the advantage at the point when Livingstone strode out to the middle.

Having been off-colour for most of the summer including the T20 Blast and The Hundred, Livingstone found some form in the opening ODI and carried forward that confidence into this innings. He took this time early on, before unleashing his typically powerful hits all around the ground. Moeen and Sam Curran gave good support, particularly the latter whose 112-run stand with Livingstone gave England the momentum heading into the break. It was a commendable recovery and ultimately, that proved decisive in the context of the game.

Brief scores: England 226/7 in 34 overs (Liam Livingstone 95*, Sam Curran 42; Trent Boult 3-37) beat New Zealand 147 in 26.5 overs (Daryl Mitchell 57; Reece Topley 3-27, David Willey 3-34) by 79 runs