MATCH REPORT
Follow UsIn a must-win encounter at the Kensington Oval, Moeen Ali produced one of his best performances in the shortest format of the game to power England to a thumping 34-run win against West Indies in the fourth T20 international.
The southpaw scored a scintillating 63 off 28 deliveries studded with one boundary and seven maximums to propel the visiting side to 193 runs for the loss of six wickets in the first innings.
After being asked to bat first on a sluggish surface, England were jolted early with the wicket of Tom Banton early in the innings. Despite the stutter, James Vince and Jason Roy steadied the innings with a crucial 85-run partnership for the second wicket before Roy was undone after scoring a valuable half-century.
With eight overs to spare, Moeen walked in to take centre stage in this crucial encounter. The southpaw accumulated the ones and twos and steadied the innings before amassing 28 runs off Jason Holder's penultimate over, including four consecutive sixes.
Displaying an array of strokes all around the ground, Moeen launched an attack in the back end of the innings to help England score 75 off the last five overs. En route to this brutal hitting, Moeen recorded his half-century off 23 deliveries to ensure England post a mammoth first innings total.
In reply, West Indies got off to a dream start as Brandon King, and Kyle Mayers smashed 56 runs in the powerplay. Making a comeback in the playing XI for this game, Mayers made optimum use of the field restrictions to help the home team get off to a blazing start.
Despite being dismissed for a well compiled 40 off 23 deliveries, the left-handed batter laid a solid foundation for the Windies in the run chase. However, they failed to capitalise on the opportunity as Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali wreaked havoc in the middle overs. They did not concede a boundary from the seventh over till the 13th over and scalped four wickets to derail the batting unit of the home team.
The off-spinner started the proceedings with the wicket of Mayers and followed it up with the massive scalp of Ravman Powell, the centurion from the last encounter, to tilt the match in favour of England. The 34-year old finished with figures of two of 28 in his quota of four overs to help England record a convincing win and level the series 2-2.
While England will be pleased with their performance in this crucial game, West Indies will have plenty to ponder. The home team will need to work on their approach against the spinners in the middle overs when they step onto the field in less than 24 hours for the series decider at the same venue.
