England all-rounder Moeen Ali completed 1,000 runs in T20I cricket on Wednesday.
The left-hand batting all-rounder achieved this landmark during his side’s Group 1, Super 12 match of the ICC T20 World Cup against Ireland at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In the match, Moeen scored a quickfire 24* off 12 balls consisting of three fours and a six, which gave his side hope of chasing down the target of 158 set by Ireland before rain played spoilsport.
Now, in 67 matches and 58 innings, Moeen has scored 1,019 runs at an average of 23.69. Seven half-centuries have been scored by this attacking all-rounder, with the best of 72*. He bats with a strike rate of 147.25.
Ali is at the eighth spot in England’s all-time T20I run-scorers. The top five run scorers for England in the shortest format are former skipper Eoin Morgan (2,458), Jos Buttler (2,395), Alex Hales (1,888), Dawid Malan (1,745) and Jason Roy (1,522).
The top run-scorers in T20I history are: Star Indian batter Virat Kohli (3,794), Indian skipper Rohit Sharma (3,741), New Zealand veteran Martin Guptill (3,531), Star Pakistan batter Babar Azam (3,231) and Ireland’s Paul Stirling (3,133).
Put to bat first by England, Ireland was bundled out for 157 in 19.2 overs. Skipper Balbirnie top-scored with a brilliant 62 off 47 balls and had an 82-run stand for the second wicket with wicketkeeper-batter Lorcan Tucker (34).
Other than this partnership, England bowlers dominated the inning. Pacer Mark Wood took 3 wickets for 34 runs in his four overs. Liam Livingstone also took three wickets for 17 runs in his three overs. Sam Curran got two while Ben Stokes got one wicket.
Chasing 158, England kept losing wickets at regular intervals, at one point reduced to 86/5. Knocks from Dawid Malan (35) and Moeen Ali (24*) offered the former champions some hope.
However, with England five runs behind the DLS par score, rain interrupted the action and they lost the match by five runs.
With this win, Ireland has climbed to the fourth position in the points table with two points and one win in two matches. England sits in third position with two points and one win in two matches.
Balbirnie was also crowned as ‘Man of the Match’ for his knock.
Brief score: Ireland 157 (Andrew Balbirnie 62, Lorcan Tucker 34; Liam Livingstone 3-17) won against England: 105/5: (Dawid Malan 35, Moeen Ali 24*, Josh Little 2/16) by five runs as per the DLS method. (ANI)
