Moeen Ali leads England to series-levelling victory

BARBADOS, Jan 30: A swashbuckling innings from interim skipper Moeen Ali was the catalyst in England’s fourth T20I victory over the West Indies in Barbados.

Moeen struck seven sixes, of which four were consecutive strikes off the bowling of Jason Holder, helping the tourists post a score of 193.

In reply, the West Indies fell 34 runs short, with Moeen capping off a Player of the Match performance with two wickets in the field, taking the series to a decider on Sunday.

The stand-in captain strode out with England starting in sluggish fashion by their standards, building on the work of Jason Roy (52 off 42 balls), who gradually moved into his innings after adjusting to slow conditions.

James Vince (34 off 26) also played a strong hand in the middle overs, before the likes of Liam Livingstone (16) and Sam Billings complimented Moeen, as the team scored 59 runs in the final three overs.

Moeen, at one stage 20 off 16 balls, unleashed in the late flurry, hitting six of his sixes in the space of nine legal deliveries faced. After his dismissal in the final over, Billings (13* from four deliveries), enjoyed some late six-hitting of his own to put the tourists' score above par.

West Indies were unbeaten in the Powerplay and strong in response, with Kyle Mayers looking in particularly strong form early. He fell to Moeen for 40 (23), as did his partner Brandon King, who made 26 at less than a run-a-ball.

Spin was the key for England as Adil Rashid (1/28) and Liam Livingstone (1/18) joined their skipper, stifling in the middle overs and preventing a late fightback.

Jason Holder (36 off 24) provided resistance, but it proved futile in a comfortable win for Moeen's men.