Liam Livingstone’s 95 not out from 78 balls bailed England out against New Zealand after Trent Boult marked his first ODI in a year by inducing a top-order collapse at the Ageas Bowl.
Boult exploited helpful bowling conditions by snaring Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Ben Stokes to leave England, seeking to level the series after a heavy defeat in Cardiff, reeling on eight for three.
England then lurched to 55 for five but Livingstone’s majestic counter-attack, clubbing nine fours and one six, helped the hosts to 226 for seven in a contest reduced to 34 overs per side because of rain.
The big-hitting all-rounder, whose ODI best was the first time he batted 50 or more balls in an England innings, shared a stand of 112 in 77 balls with Sam Curran – who returned to the XI alongside Bairstow and Moeen Ali – in this second of four World Cup warm-ups.
Jason Roy’s back spasm meant he once again missed out while Adil Rashid, who struggled with cramp at Sophia Gardens, missed out although England insist they are merely taking a precaution over the pair with the World Cup in India just three and a half weeks away.
After England were asked to bat first, Boult wreaked havoc in his second over, squaring up Bairstow, whose squirted leading edge might have landed safely on another day but a leaping Mitch Santner took a superb one-handed catch at cover.
Root was lbw second ball, eschewing a review as replays showed a delivery swinging back in would have clattered leg stump, with the Yorkshireman out for his fourth duck in his last 10 ODI knocks.
After a double wicket maiden, Boult had his third in the space of eight balls after an advancing Stokes backed away and clothed to mid-off while Harry Brook spooned Matt Henry to a backpedalling mid-on, with England’s top four mustering just nine runs between them in 32 deliveries.
Jos Buttler sought to upset Boult’s rhythm and though he mistimed a couple of drives, the tactic worked as a more convincing stroke brought up a third four in an over which yielded 15 runs.
Buttler’s eyes lit up at a rare Santner long hop but was on the shot too early and, perhaps undone by the ball sticking in the surface, dragged on to his leg stump, having made 30 of England’s 55 for five.
Moeen Ali drove Henry then Tim Southee lustily through the covers as he rebuilt alongside Livingstone, who settled into his stride by rocking back and cutting Southee away for four.
Livingstone was strong all around the wicket while Moeen slog swept Rachin Ravindra for six before clipping Southee wide of Tom Latham for four to bring up England’s 100. But from the next ball, Moeen was cramped for room and aimed an ungainly slash for Glenn Phillips to take a fine low catch.
Livingstone flayed three fours in a Southee over as he brought up a second successive fifty in 47 balls while he was ably supported by Curran, who launched Santner over cow corner for six.
Livingstone took his four count against Southee to six with back-to-back boundaries – an unconvincing mow before a more authoritative drive – before hammering Henry into the stands for his lone six.
Curran departed for 42 off 35 balls in the last over while Willey thumped his first ball for six but Livingstone, despite facing the last two balls, was left stranded five adrift of a maiden ODI ton.
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
McAllister cannot see Klopp or Guardiola succeeding Southgate
Gary McAllister finds it hard to believe that either Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Southgate, who led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, ended his eight-year tenure following their defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 showpiece.
The 53-year-old was often accused of a cautious approach despite only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) overseeing more England goals than his 213, with supporters wanting to see a more attack-minded manager take over.
And two of the names linked with the vacant position have been pioneers of Premier League football in recent years.
Klopp ended his nine-year stay at Liverpool in May to take a break from management, while some expect Guardiola to leave Manchester City at the end of his current deal, which expires next year.
The pair have won 653 games between them and shared 25 major honours during their time in England and could be seen as the ideal candidates to end the Three Lions' 58-year wait for silverware.
However, former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder McAllister believes Klopp and Guardiola are unlikely to become England's next manager.
McAllister, who played 57 times for his nation, believes supporters would prefer an English manager at the helm.
"I think people are linking Jurgen with the England job purely because he has experience working in the English Premier League," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"He's worked with elite players for many years now at Dortmund and at Liverpool. So people are putting two and two together.
"Personally, I don't see it happening and I think I also see that there were links to Pep Guardiola and I don't see Pep managing England either.
"It's hard for me to comment on this because I'm obviously not English, I'm Scottish.
"The people I speak to within the game, there is a feeling that the manager of England should come from St George's Park, which is the headquarters of English football, the FA and all the coaching programmes that they have there.
"Why would you have all this and then put a manager not from England in? I think most of the people in England are looking for an English manager."
The Three Lions' next game is a Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland in September, with Finland their next opponents three days later.
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