Man Of The Match Moeen Ali rescued England from a dire situation with his second highest T20I score in the ICC World T20 clash with minnows Afghanistan in Delhi as Eoin Morgan's side triumphed by 15 runs.
The Worcestershire all-rounder struck an unbeaten 41 off 33 balls batting at number seven to steer England to 142-7 from their 20 overs.
It was significantly better than had appeared likely when England stood on 85-7 after opting to bat.
Then Afghanistan were restricted to 127-9 as England avoided a potential banana skin.
Moeen and David Willey added an unbroken 57 including 35 from the final two overs.
The 28-year-old came to the wicket at 50-5 and batted sensibly before hitting out in the final stages.
His first boundary was an edge for four off Mohammad Nabi but then Moeen found the middle of the bat.
He clipped Shapoor Zadran off his toes to the ropes and then struck Amir Hamza for a six over mid wicket and a straight driven four from successive balls in the 19th over.
With Willey striking Hamza for two sixes, the over yielded 25 runs.
Moeen's highest T20I score was the 72 not out he made against Australia in Cardiff last August.
But this was arguably more significant in keeping England's hopes alive of reaching the semi-finals.
Afghanistan regularly lost wickets in reply and never seriously threatened to chase down England's modest total.
Moeen came into the attack and struck in his first over when Rashid Khan (15) was caught by skipper Eoin Morgan at cover with the total 35-4.
