4th T20I: Moeen Ali leads England’s win over West Indies, sets up series decider

Moeen Ali scored a quickfire half-century and then picked two wickets to help England defeat the West Indies by 34 runs in the fourth T20I at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados. The series is now tied at 2-2. 

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Ali, who was England’s stand-in skipper in Eoin Morgan’s absence, smashed as many as seven sixes and one boundary in his 28-all 63. The visitors added 59 runs in the last three overs to post 193/3. Opener Jason Roy contributed 52 off 42 deliveries and James Vince (34 off 26) made significant contributions. 

The 34-year-old all-rounder then went on to take 2-28 from four overs as West Indies was held to 159-5. Opener Kyle Mayers top-scored with 40 off 23 and Jason Holder smashed 36 off 24 with two fours and three sixes.

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England’s Adil Rashid, Liam Livingstone and Reece Topley picked one wicket each. 

Ali, the player of the match, said that he played with the momentum. 

“I thought we were outstanding. We started well at the top and finished really well. This is exactly what we want; to put the bowlers under pressure and learn from previous games. I went from not being able to hit the ball and then a couple of shots, you get the momentum and you keep going,” the player said after the game. 

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Moeen Ali further added that he wants to perform well in the last T20I. 

“It was nice to get a few overs in with the new ball and pick up a couple of wickets. We want to put a team out that can win. Adil (Rashid) is a great bowler but he’s kind of old and needs to be taken care of. Powell is a dangerous batter and we had to get him out early and that’s why I kept Rash going.”

The fifth T20I will take place on Sunday.