Chasing 194, England were 79/3 at one stage before Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell shared a 90-run stand in just 47 balls to see the chase.
Cardiff: Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell shared 90 runs off 47 balls to lead England to a series-tying second T20I 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.
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 as he filled in for Jofra Archer, breaching 90 mph (145 kph).
Head, the skipper in the absence of an ill Mitch Marsh, was again electric at the top of the order with 31 off 14 balls while Jake Fraser-McGurk’s 50 — his first international fifty — was followed by Australia plundering 60 from the final five overs to finish on 193/6.
Salt began the reply initially watchful, then belted three successive leg-side sixes off Aaron Hardie before Sean Abbott silenced the crowd with two wickets in three balls. Will Jacks under-cooked a pull on 12 and Abbott’s nip-backer breached Jordan Cox’s defences. Livingstone was beaten by a beauty first up and then survived a review for lbw in an eventful over.
Undeterred, Livingstone cleared deep midwicket off Marcus Stoinis then got some payback on Abbott with three fours in an over as England closed to within two of Australia’s powerplay score, aided by a couple of fumbles on the rope by Fraser-McGurk.
Head’s gamble to introduce Short’s part-time off-spin reaped rewards, with Salt miscuing to fall for 39 off 23 balls. Requiring 104 from the last 10 overs, Livingstone put the hammer down, scooping Cameron Green for six before twice depositing Stoinis into the crowd for a 27-ball fifty.
Bethell got into the act with a swing off slow left-armer Cooper Connolly before taking down Australia’s premier spinner Adam Zampa. Bethell, in just his second T20, used his feet brilliantly to disrupt Zampa’s rhythm and took him for 4-6-4-4. But with 25 needed off the last four overs, he missed a reverse sweep off Short.
Short snared Curran in the same over and while Livingstone belted a six then a four off the spinner to level the scores, both he and Carse blotted their copybook before Rashid got England home.