Playing regularly has helped my game, says record-breaking Moeen

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Eng vs WI
Moeen Ali crunched a 57-ball 102 to help England gain unassailable 2-0 lead against the Windies. © AFP

Moeen Ali has put the disappointment of a lean Champions Trophy 2017 campaign behind him. On Sunday (September 24), the all-rounder slammed his third ODI century, and the fastest ever on English soil, as the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series against Windies in Bristol courtesy a massive 124-run victory.

Moeen turned the game on its head in the closing minutes of England’s innings, smashing eight sixes and two boundaries in the space of 14 deliveries, as the home side recovered from a mini-collapse to post a daunting 369 for 9 on the board from their 50 overs. The 30-year-old, however, played down his record-breaking knock and insisted that the confidence he’s gained over the summer – across formats – helped as he batted Windies out of the contest with his match-turning 57-ball 102.

“It’s been good for my confidence,” Moeen said after the game. “I know there will be tough times ahead (in Australia), and I try not to get too over-confident, but I’ve played quite a bit for England now and the experience has allowed me stay focussed on what’s to come. Playing in the side regularly, training with international players and playing against international players, has helped my game so much, I feel my batting and bowling is improving all the time.”

Earlier in the summer, Moeen bagged the Man of the Series award as England handed South Africa a 3-1 beating in the Test series, just before the Windies arrived. The award was an acknowledgement of a rare record as Moeen went on to become the only player to score at least 250 runs and register 25 wickets in a four-Test series.

In Bristol, England were comfortably placed at 206 for 3 after 31 overs courtesy a 132-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Joe Root and Ben Stokes. However, that changed quickly to 217 for 6 at the start of the 35th over as Windies attempted a fightback. Moeen and Chris Woakes then put on a game-turning partnership worth 117. Having rebuilt the innings during the initial phase of his seventh-wicket heroics with Woakes, Moeen felt it was time ripe enough to press the accelerator as he launched the onslaught in the final six overs.

“I felt Rooty and Stokesy did a fantastic job for us,” he said. “I thought we were in a bit of trouble, then we lost those three wickets and we both had to rebuild a bit. But I felt like we got to a situation around 42 overs when we were in a decent position and it was time to press the button, but in the end [Woakes] was giving me one every ball because I felt like I was in the zone and everything was coming off.”

Moeen admitted that he never considered himself as one who’d go after every ball very often, but it helped with Windies bowling ‘in the slot’ for him to pull off what he eventually did. “As a kid [sixes] were a regular thing, but only playing first-class and international cricket, I never saw myself as that sort of player,” he noted. “But the ground wasn’t the biggest and I felt like they bowled a little bit in the slot. I just had a slog really, everything seemed to come off, I tried to watch the ball, keep my shape and really go for it.”

On the other hand, Windies captain Jason Holder rued another missed opportunity by letting England off the hook towards the fag end of their innings. “I felt we got off to a decent start,” Holder said. “We got wickets with the new ball, which we pride ourselves on. Things started to leak a little bit then we pulled it back with a couple of wickets. I thought Miguel was outstanding in the middle overs coming back and getting those two prize wickets. We just didn’t finish off well.”

While he heaped praise on Moeen for the match-winning efforts, Holder also admitted the visitors were sloppy in the field. “They bat deep. [Moeen] has played a special innings today. I think we didn’t execute our plans towards him and he was able to capitalise on the dimensions of the ground. It’s a small ground and he backed himself to clear it. We didn’t field well, we were a just bit sloppy, a couple of misfields and dropped chances.”

Windies, already out of contention for a direct entry to the 2019 World Cup, now trail the five-match series 0-2, with two games to spare.