T20 World Cup: Roy sees more role for Livingstone as tournament progresses

Abu Dhabi, Oct 27: Part-time slow bowler Liam Livingstone, who is capable of bowling both leg and off-spin, would be a vital cog in the sluggish UAE conditions as the T20 World Cup progresses, opener Jason Roy said on Wednesday.

After Moeen Ali's two wickets in two balls in Power Play, Livingstone removed both Mushfiqur Rahim and Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah in the middle overs to keep England run-rate ahead during their eight-wicket win in a T20 World Cup match here.

"He's doing extremely well for us and holding up an average is extremely positive," Roy said of Livingstone. "Especially as the tournament goes on where the pitches might get a little bit harder against spin, who knows, he might have more of a role to play."

On a day leg-spinner Adil Rashid returned wicketless, Livingstone returned with 2/15 before Tymal Mills wreaked havoc with 3/27 to restrict Bangladesh to 124/9.

"Yeah, he's been working extremely hard. It's been great having Moeen and Rash (Rashid) on the side as well, and he learns a lot from them and Jeetan Patel, our spin coach, as well, has been giving him some words of wisdom. It's paying off for him."

Such was the pressure in the middle overs that Bangladesh played 52 dot balls in their innings. "We bowled extremely well. Take nothing away from the bowlers. I don't think we took too much of a foot wrong," said Roy.

"We took our catches and fielded and bowled really well. It was a pitch that was on the slow side, and if you bowled straight and on a good length, it was quite hard to get away."

Roy gave the team a great start with a blistering 38-ball 61 to make his 50th Twenty20 International cap special. "We got off to a great start with the bat and then just capitalised on a lower total. We kept it very simple and stuck to what we do best.

"We don't look too much into what a lot of other teams do. We make sure that everything in our camp is right and we're doing our roles right. And today was another day that we bowled extremely well and we were clinical with the bat," he said.

The ultra aggressive approach of the batters is paying off for the reigning ODI World Cup champions and Roy credited it to the team bonding.

"Our camp has been together since 2015 and we've created bonds outside of cricket and on the field, which I think plays a huge part in travelling the world and playing good cricket," Roy said.

"We understand our roles in the team as individuals and as teammates," he said of the success mantra for the top-ranked T20I side.

"There's a lot of trust, a lot of friendships, but yeah, we are just a confident side that always want to get better."

After two defeats in as many games, Bangladesh's chances to qualify for the semifinals appear remote. "We still have three matches to go. If we win a match we will regain our confidence," said Nasum Ahmed whose two sixes and one four in a nine-ball 19 not out propped up the Bangladesh total.