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.
Sinclair grabs 5-44 as honors even at stumps on day one of deciding third unofficial “Test” against South Africa “A”
Kevin Sinclair was the star of day one of the deciding third unofficial “Test” between the West Indies “A” and South Africa “A” at the Manguang Oval in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
South Africa “A” were able to post 274 in 67.4 overs after winning the toss. Khaya Zondo led the way with a well-compiled 70 off 114 balls including seven fours and two sixes.
Captain Neil Brand also showed some good form with a 93-ball 62 while Zubayr Hamza made 30.
Sinclair was excellent with the ball, picking up 5-44 off 14.4 overs, already his fourth five-wicket haul of his 20-match first-class career.
Shamar Joseph and Shermon Lewis provided good support with 3-65 from 15 overs and 2-68 from 13 overs, respectively.
The West Indians ended the day 17-1 off eight overs, trailing by 257. Tagenarine Chanderpaul was the batsman dismissed for 3. Zachary McCaskie (12) and Kirk McKenzie (2) are the batsmen at the crease.
The teams are tied at 1-1 in the series. West Indies “A” won the first game by one wicket and South Africa “A” won the second by 232 runs.
Full Scores:
South Africa “A” 274 off 67.4 overs (Khaya Zondo 70, Neil Brand 62, Zubayr Hamza 30, Kevin Sinclair 5-44, Shamar Joseph 3-65, Shermon Lewis 2-68)
West Indies “A” 17-1 off 8 overs
Sophie Ecclestone set for England return in T20 opener in India – Heather Knight
Sophie Ecclestone will make her England comeback in Wednesday’s T20 series opener against India, with captain Heather Knight declaring the spinner “fit and firing” after four months out.
The world number one white-ball bowler needed surgery after dislocating her shoulder in August while taking part in the Hundred, missing the home series against Sri Lanka and the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.
But she stepped up her recovery during England’s recent training camp in Oman and is ready to return to action at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
“Sophie has missed a bit of cricket with the injury she had but she’s going to be fit and firing, so I’m looking forward to seeing her bowl,” Knight said.
“I don’t think bowling will be an issue, she’s been doing really well, but fielding there might be a bit of nervousness. I’ve had injuries myself where it’s about getting over trusting your body.
“I’m sure in the heat of battle Sophie will be fine, she’s tracking really well in training, diving around and things like that, but we’ll keep a close eye on her because she’s obviously a key player for us.”
England have not toured India since 2019 but Knight was among a handful of players who played in the country’s inaugural Women’s Premier League and believes it is the perfect place for her side to develop.
“It feels a long time since we’ve been to India, but now the WPL is a staple in the calendar there’s going to be a lot of cricket here for English players,” she said.
“I always feel I learn a lot about my game playing in Indian conditions. It really tests you as a cricketer in terms of skill level, how you deal with the noise, the heat and the other things that tend to happen in Indian tours.
“It’s a really good place to accelerate development and I’m excited to see how we cope with it.
“I’m really excited to see what sort of crowd we get too. Hopefully we get a few in after the WPL earlier in the year and we can silence the crowd, if there is one.”
England have one doubt for the series opener, with Charlie Dean set to sit out due to illness.
Kevin Wickham and Academy bowlers combine to crush Emerging Ireland by 432 runs at Coolidge
As was expected, West Indies Academy inflicted a soul-crushing defeat on Emerging Island in their four-day match at the Coolidge Cricket Ground on Wednesday to sweep the series 2-0. Having been set a nigh-impossible target of 575 runs, the tourists wilted under the pressure and we bowled out for 143, thus losing by a mammoth 432 runs.
Having resumed from their overnight total of 172-4, for an already significant lead of 432 runs, West Indies Academy, spurred by Kevin Wickham’s unbeaten 105 and contributions of 32 from Nyeem Young and 22 from McKenny Clarke, eventually declared on 321-8.
The spark in the dark for Emerging Ireland was the haul of 5-75 by Tom Hayes, who got some support from Michael Frost whose two wickets came at the cost of 136 runs from 32 overs.
With a target of almost 600 runs, Emerging Ireland were never up to the task against a rested and confident West Indies Academy bowling attack led by Joshua Bishop who snagged 4-36 and Clarke, who bowled miserly for 2-16 from six overs.
Lower-order batter Liam McCarty offered the most resistance with a knock of 35 not out. Otherwise, opener Stephen Doheny was the only other batter who got into the 20s, with 23.
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