It was a takedown that showed why English cricket is so excited about a precociously talented allrounder. Jacob Bethell is only 20, but his assault on Adam Zampa's legspin showed exactly why England's stand-in coach, Marcus Trescothick, believes he will become "a superstar".
Bethell had played second fiddle to Liam Livingstone in their fourth-wicket partnership, focusing on trying to get his senior partner back on strike. But when Livingstone hit three consecutive boundaries off Marcus Stoinis, Bethell spotted an opportunity to assert England's dominance.
Facing Zampa - the outstanding bowler in an understrength Australian attack - Bethell skipped down to the first two balls of the 14th over, whipping the first through midwicket and launching the second over wide long-on. Zampa's response was a fast, flat googly, which Bethell had the presence of mind to spot and slap through cover.
The fourth ball was shorter, and dragged hard through the leg side: Cameron Green sprawled at full stretch to cut it off, but replays confirmed it was a fourth consecutive boundary. A raucous Friday night Cardiff crowd greeted each one with a louder cheer: in the space of four balls, Bethell had turned an equation of 62 off 42 into 42 off 38.
Bethell fell two overs later for 44, his partnership with Livingstone worth 90. They dovetailed to great effect: Livingstone targeted Australia's seamers throughout his innings of 87, scoring heavily over midwicket, while Bethell tucked into the spin of Zampa and Cooper Connolly.
The gameplan was simple. "Livi was going well, so I just didn't want to put any pressure back on him," Bethell explained. "[I thought] just play strong shots and get off strike, until the opportunity came to take advantage of a match-up, and I did that. He [Zampa] is a great bowler, so to be able to do that against him was brilliant."
Bethell and Livingstone are Birmingham Phoenix teammates and have worked closely over the past two months. Livingstone has acted as a mentor and presented Bethell with his maiden England cap at the Utilita Bowl on Wednesday night. "He's been brilliant," Bethell said.
"Obviously, Livi is one of the most hard-hitting batsmen in the world. He's got a reputation and has done it all over the world, so to be able to bat with him, train with him and just be around him has been brilliant. I've been lucky enough to have a few partnerships with him in the Hundred, and then I really enjoyed playing with him tonight."
Livingstone saw Bethell's treatment of Zampa as "the real turning point" in England's chase. "For a lad that's 20 years old to take down one of the best bowlers in white-ball cricket over the last two years just shows what he's got," he said. "As an England player, it's great to have someone like that in our team. But as an England fan over the next 10 or 15 years, I think we've got an incredible talent on our hands."
It might sound like a lofty prediction for a batter who is yet to score a professional hundred, but Bethell has long been marked out as a special player. He was considered a childhood prodigy in Barbados, where he spent the first 13 years of his life, and has been highly rated in the English system since moving over to become a sports scholar at Rugby School. With a peroxide-blond perm, he exudes self-confidence.
Moving over at a young age has meant Bethell has rarely played in front of his family. They had planned a trip over from Barbados around Warwickshire's end-of-season dinner, which they quickly brought forward in order to watch him play his first internationals. "They landed just before the first game," Bethell said.
It was not a convincing debut: three wicketless overs of left-arm spin and losing his leg stump to Zampa for a six-ball two. But his second cap was much more impressive. "It is quite hard to focus on the cricket," Bethell reflected. "It was nice to get that out the way. It was a special evening, but nice to then hit the ground running today and put a good performance in.
"They've given up so much to give me this opportunity to come over here. To do it in front of them - they've not watched me play a lot of cricket live, so to finally watch me, and it being in international colours, is unreal. They just said they're proud: emotions spill out on nights like these, but they're happy and I'm happy, so it's good."
Next week's ODI series will provide Bethell with a new challenge: he has only played 16 List A games, the most recent coming in August 2023, and will have to adjust to the tempo of 50-over cricket. But it would be no great surprise to see him thrive: Bethell has made taking every opportunity that comes his way an early theme of a hugely promising career.