England captain Eoin Morgan is delighted that his team began its T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note as spinner Moeen Ali exploited the conditions to flatten the West Indies here on Saturday.
Spinners Moeen (2/17) and Adil Rashid (4/2) dominated the West Indies batting line-up to script England’s comfortable six-wicket win over the defending champions in a Super 12 Group 1 match.
“It’s as good as it gets. To start our campaign like that, all credit to our bowling unit. The guys were very disciplined, and we took our chances,” Morgan said at the post-match presentation after England cantered to the paltry target of 56 in 8.2 overs.
Moeen ended his spell in a splendid manner, bowling as many as 18 dot balls in his four overs while conceding just 17 runs.
“I think Moeen Ali read the conditions beautifully, he took chances when his match-up was in his favour, and to take his opportunity like he has, after the success he’s had in the IPL was brilliant.”
Pacer Tymal Mills was also impressive as he also took two wickets for 17 runs from his four overs.
“I’m delighted for Big T. He’s had an unfortunate journey at times, but he’s now as good as I’ve ever seen him, especially with his fitness.”
Morgan said Dawid Malan was pushed down the order and was not sent in the middle so as to knock off the required runs quickly.
“We were (thinking of the net run-rate, and held back Malan), we wanted guys to go after the bowling, but that was difficult today on that pitch,” he said.
Player of the Match Moeen said his stint at the IPL winning side Chennai Super Kings has helped him.
“The role at CSK is very important for me, it feels like I’m always involved with bat and ball and on the field too, and it was the perfect preparation coming into the World Cup.”
On his superbly judged effort at mid-off to send back West Indies batter Evin Lewis, he said: “A catch like that gives you a bit of confidence, I think it settled my nerves a bit.
“They do have a lot of left-handers at the top, so I knew I would be bowling early on.”
