IT’S ALL SYSTEMS MO!
Ali smashes EIGHT sixes in brilliant ton as Windies are routed and records fall
This may be England’s longest summer but they saved a late season treat back at the Bristol ground where it all began.
Moeen Ali, England’s man of the season in a competitive field, led the charge. his 102 set up a 124-run win and gave England an unassailable 2- 0 lead in the series. he smashed eight of the 28 sixes yesterday, a record for an international in this country.
The modern day master blaster Chris Gayle was not far behind with six blistering sixes to give West indies a real chance of victory until the unlikely figure of Adil Rashid ran him out six short of his own century.
it is remarkable Moeen was left out of that first international of the season here in early May against ireland, with England deeming the Bristol boundaries not big enough to risk playing a second spinner with Rashid.
since then Moeen has made himself undroppable in every format. he has played the summer of his life, featuring his man of the series Test displays against south Africa and culminating in a one-day century of rare speed.
it means, with just games at The Oval and Ageas Bowl to come, England look set to finish a productive season on another high note, their Champions Trophy defeat by Pakistan proving their one big disappointment. ‘i was just trying to play as many big shots as i could,’ said Moeen.
‘it was just time to press the button and this ground is a good size for someone like me who is not a massive hitter. By the end i felt i was in the zone and everything was coming off.’
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The first sign of what was to come saw Moeen hit Miguel Cummins for two sixes to bring up his 50, off 41 balls, but what followed was extraordinary.
in eight balls from Cummins and Jason holder, Moeen hit six sixes with the cleanest of hitting — the other two balls went for four and two — and moved to his hundred with an eighth six off only his 53rd ball.
his second 50, incredibly, had come off 12 balls as Moeen motored to England’s second fastest ODi hundred — only Jos Buttler has hit a quicker one — and the fastest on home soil. No one in ODi history has moved from 50 to 100 faster. he was not without luck, notably when Gayle dropped a dolly at point when Moeen was on 87 and then when Ashley Nurse twice gifted him reprieves off his own bowling; the first tough, the second much easier. The fumbles were indicative of West indies’ woeful fielding, with Gayle and Marlon samuels in particular showing their age and apparent indifference to anything approaching athleticism. By the time Moeen was finally out in the same over from Nurse in which he had twice been dropped, he had added 117 in 12.4 overs with Woakes and had been the key figure in England smashing 93 off their last six overs. England’s score of 369 for nine, their fifth highest in ODis, should have put the game well out of the reach of a West indies side who will have to qualify for the next World Cup. But where there is Gayle, there is hope. The ultimate white-ball batsman really is an extraordinary cricketer who, just turned 38 last week, still has the ability to destroy any attack, not least when presented with such short boundaries. The ease with which Gayle hit Liam Plunkett out of the ground was breathtaking and he had smashed six sixes in his 94 when England took advantage of the one weak link in his armoury — his running. Plunkett, who went on to take his maiden ODi five-wicket haul, had said after England’s Twenty20 defeat by West indies in Durham that they would be targeting run outs when Gayle batted and here Rashid, usually one of the worst fielders in the side, threw down the stumps as the self- styled ‘universe boss’ laboured. Game effectively over, the end came with 10.5 overs to spare.