Liam Livingstone produced a fiery knock from opener to help Rajasthan Royals to seven-wicket thrashing of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League last Saturday.

In what was his second game for the Royals, the Barrow Cricket Club graduate smashed 44 off just 26 balls, including four fours and three sixes, as the home side reached their target of 161 with five balls to spare.

After winning the toss and putting the Sunrisers in to bat, the Royals restricted them to 160-8 from their 20 overs despite them making a steady start.

They were 102-2 at the start of the 13th over, after Australia opener David Warner and Manish Pandey had combined for a second-wicket partnership of 75, following the loss of captain Kane Williamson.

But when Warner fell on 37, their run-rate slowed, despite Pandey going on to make an impressive 61 off only 36 deliveries.

The Royals’ attack shared the wickets around, with Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Shreyas Gopal and Jaydev Unadkat all claiming two apiece.

Livingstone helped the Royals get off to an excellent start with an opening stand of 78 alongside Ajinkya Rahane (39) before he eventually departed when he was caught behind off Rashid Khan.

The 25-year-old had given his team a great platform, however, and 48 from Samju Samson and 22 from Steve Smith helped the Royals over the line.