Livingstone guides England to series-levelling T20 win over Aus

Liam Livingstone. Pic/AFP

Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell shared 90 runs off 47 balls to lead England to a Twenty20 series-tying win over Australia at Sophia Gardens. The series will be decided on Sunday at Old Trafford.

Set 194 to win, England slipped to 79-3 when Phil Salt walked into an apparent trap laid by fellow stand-in captain Travis Head, holing out to Matthew Short, but Livingstone and Bethell broke the back of the chase.

Bethell's dismissal for 44 off 24 balls with the finish line in sight disrupted England but Livingstone carried them to the brink of victory with a superb 87 off 47, including five sixes and six fours. He was bowled with the scores tied and Brydon Carse senselessly slogged in the air next ball to give part-timer Short, who had previously taken only two international wickets, a shock maiden professional five-wicket haul.

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However, Adil Rashid steered to backward point for the single England needed for a three-wicket win with six balls to spare and to tie the series 1-1.

Livingstone, in his 50th T20, earlier took 2-16 from three overs while Carse, barely a fortnight on from his return to cricket after a three-month ban for breaching betting regulations, also impressed with a couple of wickets.

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