He remained unbeaten on 69 runs in 27 balls, comprising seven boundaries and five maximums.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) all-rounder Liam Livingstone got a mouthful from his old mate Tom Curran during The Hundred 2025 fixture between Birmingham Phoenix and Oval Invincibles last night. Following a match-winning knock, Livingstone revealed to BBC Sport that Curran called him a “fat slob”, to which the batter replied with a warning.
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“I have no idea why Tom started to spray me. He is one of my good friends, and he called me a fat slob or something, so I thought, ‘let’s hope you don’t go for a few if you come back at the death’ and he did so, I’m kind of happy with that.”
Curran’s words riled Livingstone, who put on a masterclass with the willow and shifted the game in Phoenix’s favour with his marvellous hitting. He first took down Rashid Khan by hitting him for 26 runs in his set of five before fulfilling his words and whacking Tom for 19 runs in five deliveries to change the match’s course.
Eventually, his team won the match, and Livingstone remained unbeaten on 69 runs in 27 balls, comprising seven boundaries and five maximums, at a strike rate of 255.56 to end as the highest scorer of the match. 84.05% of his total runs came via fours and sixes, and the English all-rounder scored 37.91% of the team’s runs alone while also picking a solitary wicket in the first innings.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru bought Liam Livingstone for INR 8.75 crores in the IPL 2025 auction and had high hopes for him, but he couldn’t churn out consistent performances. The all-rounder could only score 112 runs at an abysmal average of 16 and a 133.33 strike rate in eight innings this season, including a fifty.
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Even with the ball, he couldn’t make a significant impact in limited chances, snaring two wickets at 38 runs apiece and conceding 8.44 runs per over in five innings. At one stage, RCB even dropped him from the XI after his performances didn’t improve despite getting ample chances.
Hence, Livingstone’s retention before the next season has been in jeopardy, but such performances will certainly boost his chances. He is still a quality player and continues to win matches for his team in other leagues, despite his form being tepid in this year’s IPL edition.
So, RCB can ponder on retaining him ahead of the next season, especially if his form remains as good as it was last night. Sure, he’s costing a reasonable sum, but Livingstone can fetch a higher amount if he comes in the IPL 2026 auction, considering players get overpriced in a mini-auction.
