Jacob Bethell has scored two international hundreds this year but said that his 76 not out to beat India in Manchester was "close to the top" of his favourite innings for England.
Bethell made 154 against Australia in the fifth Ashes Test in January and 108 off 54 balls in England's semi-final defeat to India at the T20 World Cup in March, but both came in losing causes. On Saturday, by contrast, he walked off unbeaten with Jofra Archer after his 17th-over takedown of Ravi Bishnoi swung a tight game in England's favour.
"I'd actually put it up close to the top," Bethell said, asked how his innings compared to his favourite in an England shirt. "I've scored a few hundreds, but only one of them [against South Africa last September] was in a winning cause. We lost in Australia, we lost in India, so both of those games you look [at] and go: 'What more?' I needed to do more.
"Whereas today, I'm all smiles. We've gone one-nil up in the series. There's a few scars against India, so it's nice to get one up on them. And yeah, it's just [given me] a lot of confidence going into the last three games."
Bethell reached the end of the 16th over on 42 off 36, with England needing 49 off the last four overs, and was preparing to target the short leg-side boundary when Harshit Rana bowled the 18th and 20th. But he was provided with two free-hits when Bishnoi bowled back-foot no-balls, and decided it was time to stay in fifth gear after planting both of those balls into the stands.
He scored 34 runs off the final 10 balls he faced, including an outrageous reverse-lap for six off Harshit, and quickly scampered back for two when Archer knocked Arshdeep Singh to deep square leg, sealing a four-wicket win with an over to spare.
"In those kinds of chases, you're not going rapid the whole time, but a couple of big overs and then the game swings," Bethell said. "If I'm honest, I probably would've targeted the other end more with my leg-side [being] with the wind and the shorter side. But when [you get] a couple of free-hits and then the bowler's down, then you try and take him [down]."
Bethell walked out at No. 4 with England 1 for 2 after five balls, having lost both Phil Salt and Jos Buttler for ducks. "I was pretty calm," he said. "When Brooky [Harry Brook] went out there, I said, 'Go well Harry,' and I was out there a couple of balls later. Jos was unlucky, but it's a weird feeling going out two down for not many. But then Brooky played that situation unbelievably."
Brook made an early dent in the required rate with England chasing 191 to win, hitting Arshdeep for two fours then three consecutive sixes in a 27-run third over. Bethell praised his captain's attacking intent, saying that he had played "unbelievably" to take "a big chunk" out of the total during his 15-ball 39.
"I was going to probably take a few more risks if Brooky didn't get off to the flyer that he did," he said. "But he allowed me to just almost be that person there just anchoring away. I tried to kick on a bit more before that big over, but those two free-hits opened the door… There's nothing sweeter as a batter than walking off with a win, not out, walking in, shaking the boys' hands."
Bethell learned this week that he will open the batting in the 50-over leg of this series, becoming Ben Duckett's fifth ODI opening partner since the start of last year. His innings on Saturday showed his ability to shift up and down the gears, and he said he was looking forward to the opportunity to learn a new role.
"Every time I've batted with him and we've had a partnership, we bounce really well off each other in terms of where we score; I know we're both left-handers, but we score in pretty different areas. I think if we can get that going, it'll be a really strong partnership.
"I've never opened the batting in 50-over cricket [at international level], but I can take different aspects - a bit from my red-ball game, a bit from the T20 - and hopefully mould it into quite a good template. I'm definitely looking forward to it."