England and Birmingham Phoenix middle-order batter Liam Livingstone put up a performance worthy of giving nightmares to Oval Invincibles’ Rashid Khan in the Hundred on Tuesday.
As Rashid came to bowl a five-ball
spell between the 76th to 80th balls of the Phoenix’s chase in the game, Livingstone smacked three consecutive sixes with a boundary on each side of them. Rashid’s speeds were down, and he couldn’t get the lengths right, as the balls came loopily out of his hands, sitting up for Livingstone to play his favorite slog repeatedly.
Livingstone remained unbeaten at 69 off 27 as Phoenix won the game by four wickets in 98 balls. Rashid, meanwhile, ended his 20-ball spell at 0/59. These were the worst figures of a 20-ball spell in the Hundred’s history as well as the most expensive T20 spell (the Hundred is seen as T20 for statistical purposes) for Rashid.
Watch Livingstone’s 26-run assault here:
WATCH NOW! ⏯️
Liam Livingstone has just scored 26 runs off 5 Rashid Khan balls! 🤯#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/fstSjKPa13
— The Hundred (@thehundred) August 12, 2025
Livingstone is the first batter to score over 200 T20 runs against Rashid, who’s usually considered one of the best in the format. No other player has even breached the 150 mark.
Reason behind Rashid Khan’s inconsistent form
This is not new for Rashid. His form and consistency have dipped since his back surgery after the 2023 World Cup. He knows that, too, and recently admitted that it is because he rushed himself back, bowling 55 overs against Zimbabwe in a Test in Bulawayo.
“In T20s, it’s fine – you can manage yourself – but for the longer formats, I was advised that you should be away from that format for some time. That is the kind of mistake I have made. But the team needed that. At that time, we had lost a few games in Test cricket, but that’s something where I rushed myself a little bit, and I didn’t give myself time and I felt it later on. Yes, I think I have done a mistake where my body was not allowing me that and I’m facing a problem. The thing is the stiffness in your back doesn’t allow you to go with full rhythm.”