(Reuters) – Liam Livingstone said he was finally shaking off the rust following his return from injury after the England all-rounder cracked an unbeaten 82 for Punjab Kings in their six-wicket loss to Mumbai in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old was sidelined for nearly five months after sustaining a knee injury on his test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi late last year and only returned to action in the IPL last month.
After scoring 40 against Chennai Super Kings last time out he hit his first half-century of the season against Mumbai, his 42-ball effort containing seven fours and four sixes including three huge hits in a row off England team mate Jofra Archer.
“It’s nice to get going. I had lunch with Jofra today (Wednesday) and he said that he was coming at me,” Livingstone said. “It was one of those pitches you felt you could get hold of the seam.
“It’s nice personally to finally get a few out of the middle after a bit of a rusty start to the tournament.”
Livingstone shared an unbroken partnership of 119 with Jitesh Sharma (49 not out) as Punjab posted 214-3 in their 20 overs but Ishan Kishan (75) and Suryakumar Yadav (66) helped Indians reach their target with seven balls remaining.
Punjab are seventh with 10 points from as many games, level with three other sides who have all played one match less.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
