Monday, February 9th, 2015

Moeen Hits Rapid 46 As England Canter To World Cup Warm-Up Victory

Moeen Hits Rapid 46 As England Canter To World Cup Warm-Up Victory

Moeen Ali hit a rapid 46 as England overcame the West Indies by nine wickets in a 15-a-side World Cup warm-up match in Sydney today.

The Worcestershire all-rounder, who made his senior international debut against the Windies 12 months ago, struck nine fours in his 43 ball knock.

Two of Moeen's boundaries came at the expense of his former county colleague Kemar Roach who played for Worcestershire at the end of the 2011 season.

Moeen had one let-off when he carved Windies skipper Jason Holder to point only for the paceman to have over-stepped and no-balled.

Roach had his revenge when Moeen holed out to Darren Bravo at extra cover after sharing in an opening stand of 70 in 12 overs with Ian Bell.

Bell (35 not out) and James Taylor (25 not out) enabled England to reach their modest 123 target in 22.5 overs.

Moeen's spin was not used during the Windies innings as England opted to give a bowl to their other spinner in James Tredwell who returned figures of 1-20 from five overs.

But the main damage was done by Chris Woakes with the Warwickshire paceman finishing with 5-19 from 7.3 overs including another ex Worcestershire player in Chris Gayle for a duck.

England play their final warm-up match against Pakistan, also in Sydney, on Wednesday before their opening fixture in the tournament against Australia in Melbourne on February 14.