England faced Pakistan in a T20 World Cup warm-up match at The Gabba in Brisbane on Monday (October 17). The Brits won the game handily, chasing down 161 runs in 19 overs, with six wickets in hand in the 15th over. Given that Jos Buttler did not bat, England put forth a remarkable effort.
Meanwhile, Liam Livingstone returned from a long injury layoff to bowl two overs (1/8) and then score a crucial 16-ball 28 in the chase. During his time in the middle, he hit one four and two sixes. One of his two maximums went out of the ground, leaving everyone astonished.
Shadab Khan was bowling the ninth over of the innings when it happened. Liam Livingstone faced the first ball of the over, which the batter shimmied down the pitch and swung with all his might over the wide long-on area.
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The ball was hit so beautifully that it flew over the roof of the Gabba. For the unfamiliar, the Gabba stadium is already huge, with large boundaries, and clearing it comfortably is no joke. Livingstone was instrumental in putting together a 53-run stand with Harry Brook off just 26 balls.
As for the match, Pakistan badly missed their openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan with the bat who decided to rest. Only Shan Masood (39 off 22) managed to strike the ball well while the rest of the batters couldn’t live up to the expectations. They managed to post 160 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their 19 overs.
For England, Buttler opted not to bat but it didn’t affect their run-rate at all. Despite openers, Alex Hales and Phil Salt missing out, Ben Stokes smashed 36 off just 18 balls and then Livingstone and Brook (45* off 24) took charge of the things. Sam Curran also had fun in the middle in the end hitting an unbeaten 33 off 14 balls to take the team over the line.
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