Liam Livingstone wins the battle of captains scoring centuries in England vs West Indies

Captain Liam Livingstone scored his first ODI century to lead England to a five-wicket win against the West Indies on Saturday. Livingstone's stormy innings overtook the century scored during the day by opposition captain Shai Hope. Chasing 329 runs to win, the England captain scored his century in 77 balls with the help of four fours and six sixes. He finished the innings unbeaten on 124 and added another four and three more sixes to his total, as England claimed victory with 15 balls to spare.

From 160–4, Livingstone and Sam Curran put on a match-winning partnership of 140 runs for the fifth wicket.

Curran scored 52 runs off one ball while openers Phil Salt (59) and Jacob Bethel (55) also scored half-centuries.

“At the end of the summer I felt I was playing my best, maturing a bit and knowing my game,” said Livingstone, who is captaining the team in place of the injured Jos Buttler.

“I am enjoying my cricket and if I am enjoying my cricket, I usually play well. Sammy played beautifully.”

He further said, “We were slow in the field but our bowlers performed well and took all the wickets. We have many young players who are learning the tricks of international cricket, this will benefit them a lot.”

West Indies fast bowler Matthew Forde took 3 for 48, but key off-spinner Gudakesh Moti could not take any wicket for 71 runs in nine overs, the most expensive return of his ODI career.

Hope scored 117 – his 17th ODI century – as West Indies lost both opening batsmen Brandon King and Evin Lewis, who scored centuries in the first match, inside the space of four overs with just 12 runs left on the board.

Both wickets fell to fast bowler John Turner, who was his first victim in this format in his second match.

Hope's innings included eight fours and four sixes.

'Century irrelevant'

Casey Carty scored 71 runs while Sherfane Rutherford gave the team extra momentum by scoring 54 runs in 36 balls.

Hope described his century as “irrelevant if it does not contribute to the victory”.

“We need to be more disciplined, in the first game we showed that when he hits our putts, things happen.

“We thought we had clear plans, but we didn't execute our plans well. We gave them too many easy options to score and when you play international cricket, people will take advantage of that and that's what happened. “

England used nine bowlers in the West Indies innings, with only wicketkeepers Salt and Jordan Cox not being bowled.

West Indies had won the first match on the same ground on Thursday by eight wickets. The three-match series will be decided in Barbados on Wednesday.

“Back in the series, looking at Barbados, we will relax and try to win the series,” Livingstone said.

The two sides will also play a five-match Twenty20 International series.