The Report by Andrew Miller
Moeen Ali produced one of the most breathtaking batting assaults in international history, a 53-ball hundred that included an incredible eight sixes in the space of 14 balls, as England withstood a withering riposte from the mighty Chris Gayle to seal an unassailable 2-0 series lead in the third ODI at Bristol.
The final margin of victory, 124 runs, may have been comfortable for England in the end, but it required a performance of rare brilliance from Moeen to put his team’s total beyond the range of a spirited West Indies side, who rallied with impressive resolve from a humiliating final six overs in which their seamers were panned for 93 runs.
Set a daunting 370 to win, having at one stage had England wobbling on 217 for 6, West Indies stayed in the hunt until Gayle’s dismissal for 94 from 78 balls in the 27th over. At 176 for 4, it was an insurmountable loss, especially after Marlon Samuels had been sent on his way for 11 via a contentious DRS overturn, although Jason Holder cracked a brisk 34 from 26 balls to maintain the defiance into the 40th over. It was left to Adil Rashid – the man whose dead-eyed shy from midwicket had sawn Gayle’s innings off in its prime – and a maiden five-wicket haul from Liam Plunkett to snuff out the last of West Indies’ resistance.
Summarized scores: England 369 for 9 (Moeen 102, Root 84, Stokes 73, Cummins 3-82) beat West Indies 245 (Gayle 94, Plunkett 5-52, Rashid 3-34) by 124 runs