Brook is England’s stand-in captain for this series because of injury to Jos Buttler. Three games into his tenure, this innings had all of the hallmarks of a cliched captain’s knock.
When Phil Salt was caught for a painful eight-ball duck and Ben Duckett skewed to point for eight, the memories of England’s collapses in the first two matches and their struggles in a run of 10 defeats across 14 matches in this format loomed large.
Brook, though, did what many have been asking of England. In his 18th ODI, he took six from his first 13 balls in a measured start. His first scoop shot did not come until he had scored 57.
That is not to say his innings was lacking in what has become trademark strokeplay. He crashed the ball through the off side, including hitting spinner Matt Short for a glorious six over mid-off and an upper cut to a Cameron Green bouncer.
Green had dismissed Jacks when he played the same shot, after England’s number three impressed in making his second fifty of the series in a calm partnership that laid the platform for England’s win.
When Jamie Smith pulled another Green bouncer to deep square leg, England, helped by the absence of Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa through illness, still needed 108 from 109 balls but Livingstone ensured the momentum had swung definitively to the hosts by the time the rain came.
He hit Mitchell Starc for two fours and Sean Abbott for a six in the two overs before the players left the field.
