Mighty Mo shows who is real boss

point when the Englishman was on 87.

This was Moeen’s latest inspirational performance of a sensational summer.

He sealed a Test win at Lord’s with a hattrick and, against the same opponents in South Africa, became only the second Englishman behind Ian Botham to take at least 25 wickets and score more than 250 runs in a single Test series.

What made his display in this match even more impressive was the context within which it came.

England looked like wasting the platform laid by halfcenturies from Joe Root and Ben Stokes when they lost three wickets in 18 balls to slip to 35th over. But Moeen’s alliance with Chris Woakes saw the seventh-wicket pair add 117 in 12.4 overs as England laid waste to the West Indian death bowling. Miguel Cummins had got rid of Root, whose 84 was his 12th half-century of a prolific summer, and Stokes, who made 73 during a 132-run stand with England’s Test captain. But it was Cummins who bore the brunt of Moeen’s brutality, hit for successive sixes as he reached both his 50 and 100 with back-to-back maximums. In all, the teams produced 28 sixes between them, a record for an ODI in this country. Ultimately, though, the eight from Moeen rather than Gayle’s six proved most telling, as England added 93 217-6 in the runs in their last six overs. It was not all good news for the hosts as limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan’s poor form continued, out for a first-ball duck as England slipped to 74-3 before posting a total that dwarfed the previous best in ODIs at this ground of 329.

West Indies stood a chance while Gayle was at the crease, the 38-year-old reaching his half-century in 38 balls with a huge six off Moeen’s spin and then hitting three more off Moeen during the 23rd over of the chase to move on to 91.

But his sluggish running between the wickets when he was stranded six runs shy of three figures saw him fall thanks to a direct hit from Adil Rashid at cover.

That left the Windies 176 for four and a maiden ODI fivewicket haul from Liam Plunkett wrapped up the win in ruthless fashion.

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