It felt like only a matter of time for me: Harry Brook on return to form

Harry Brook, leading England in the absence of the injured Jos Buttler, followed his match-winning and maiden ODI hundred at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday with a superb 87 from 58 balls at Lord's. 

Brook was criticised by former England captains Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook for succumbing to frustration after being dismissed in this month's third Test loss to Sri Lanka at the Oval. However, that didn’t have a big impact on him as Brook insisted he was always confident of coming good after starring in a 186-run rout of Australia at Lord's on Friday.

"It felt like only a matter of time for me. I feel like I've been playing well all summer; everything just needed to click. For me, the last couple of games have been really special,” Brook told reporters.

England opener Ben Duckett survived an awkward opening spell from Mitchell Starc to make 63 before Livingstone smashed seven sixes, including four in an astounding last over from the left-arm fast bowler that cost 28 runs. “We have taken all the positives and the momentum we had from the first two games and brought them to the last two games. Ducky [Duckett], we know how good he is, up top he's unbelievably tough to bowl to,” Brook said. 

“We know what Livi [Liam Livingstone] is capable of at the back end, and he showed it beautifully tonight. It's just identifying times when we need to put pressure on them more. If we get a boundary early on in the over, then we know that there's probably a chance to try and apply more pressure there. It's just picking and choosing your moments and making sure you execute.”

Australia, without Cameron Green after the all-rounder suffered a tour-ending back injury, had few answers, as skipper Mitchell Marsh admitted. 

“Fair play to England; they put us under a lot of pressure. They completely outplayed us. Probably a bit above par, Liam Livingstone played a gem of an innings. In a run-chase like that, you need one or two big partnerships. England bowled really well, we lost wickets continuously. That's cricket.”

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