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Match 23 | The Hundred 2026 | Lord’s Cricket Ground, London | 5:30 PM BST, 6 August 2026
Liam Livingstone against Rashid Khan is the duel this fixture was built to showcase, a leg-spinner who has never worked out how to contain one specific batter. Livingstone has taken more than 200 T20 runs off Rashid, a mark no other batter has even approached, at a strike rate of 192. The complication is that Rashid left for Afghanistan duty in Ireland after Match 18 and is unlikely to be available at Lord’s, which would hand MI London’s spin threat over to someone with a very different profile entirely.
No batter has taken more liberties with Rashid Khan in T20 cricket than Livingstone. He has scored 200-plus runs off him career-wide, a total nobody else has approached, at a strike rate of 192 from 102 balls faced. Their most recent meeting, at The Hundred in August 2025, produced the most one-sided over of Rashid’s career, 26 runs from five balls, including three sixes and two fours.
Rashid finished that spell with figures of 0 for 59 from 20 balls, the most expensive spell in the competition’s history and the worst of his own T20 career, eclipsing a previous high of 55 conceded back in the 2018 IPL. Livingstone has also picked up 21 sixes off Rashid across his career, nine clear of the next closest batter.
Rashid’s overall numbers remain elite: 736 wickets from 547 T20 matches at an economy of 6.67, over half of them bowled or leg before, the highest share among the format’s leading wicket-takers. That googly, built to trap batters dead in front, has rarely troubled Livingstone even once.
Left-handers have found joy against him lately; Abhishek Sharma took 45 runs off him via repeated slog sweeps in the 2024 IPL, and Livingstone leans on the same shot, stepping across his stumps early. His 2026 IPL economy crept to 8.77 from 19 wickets in 15 innings, still the best among that competition’s top ten wicket-takers, but a step back from his career mark.
This match was pencilled in as the showpiece head-to-head of the competition’s back half, calculated aggression against a bowler this one opponent has never let him control. Livingstone captains a London Spirit side sitting seventh in the table, and the bowler in question has already delivered his season’s standout spell elsewhere.
| Metric | Liam Livingstone | Rashid Khan |
| Role | Batting all-rounder (captain, London Spirit) | Bowling all-rounder (MI London) |
| Hundred 2026 form | 123 runs, top scorer for Spirit | 7 wickets, 5-for vs MSG |
| Strike rate/economy vs opponent | 192 off 102 balls faced | Not applicable |
| Sixes off opponent | 21 sixes off Rashid | Not applicable |
| Worst single encounter | 26 runs off 5 balls (Aug 2025) | 0 for 59 off 20 balls (Aug 2025) |
| Career T20 economy | 8.60 | 6.67 |
Livingstone’s 123 runs remain the top score for his franchise this year, and his economy of 7.03 ranks fifth best in the competition, proof the head-to-head story only tells part of what he brings to Lord’s.
Here is the complication reshaping this preview: Rashid left for Afghanistan’s ODI series in Ireland after Match 18 on August 2 and is unlikely to be back unless MI London reach the August 16 final. Match 23 may not feature the head-to-head fans actually want. His parting contribution was a five-wicket haul against Manchester Super Giants, his first five-for in the competition and a rare high point in an otherwise quiet campaign.
Without him, MI London lean on Trent Boult and Richard Gleeson, who has nine wickets this season and a bowling strike rate of 8.8, to replace the specific threat Rashid built his reputation on delivering.
London Spirit arrive off a mixed run, a win over MI London in Match 12 sandwiched between defeats to Southern Brave, where they were bowled out for 105, and Manchester Super Giants. Livingstone’s bowling economy of 7.03 has kept Spirit competitive even when the top order stalled. MI London sit second in the table after five games on net run rate, still very much in contention for a top-three finish come the knockouts.
Whether or not Rashid takes the field, Lord’s was always going to be defined by the Liam Livingstone vs Rashid Khan Hundred 2026 duel this season has been building toward, even if the final act now looks likely to be postponed.
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Is Rashid Khan confirmed to play Match 23?
No, he is considered unlikely to be available. He departed for Afghanistan’s Ireland series after Match 18 and would only return if MI London reach the August 16 final.
How many T20 runs has Livingstone scored off Rashid?
Livingstone has passed 200 career runs against him, the most of any batter. His strike rate in that matchup sits at 192 from 102 balls faced across their meetings.
What was Rashid’s worst bowling spell in franchise cricket?
He conceded 59 runs without a wicket from 20 balls in August 2025. That spell against Livingstone remains the most expensive in Hundred history and his career-worst T20 figures.
Who captains MI London this season?
Sam Curran leads the side in the 2026 Hundred campaign. MI London sit second in the standings on net run rate after five matches, heading into the Lord’s fixture in strong form.
What is Livingstone’s economy rate with the ball this year?
He has conceded runs at 7.03 per over, the fifth-best economy in the competition. That figure comes alongside 123 runs, the top score for his franchise this season.
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