Fastest fifty in T20 International: The English all-rounder contributed with a blistering fifth half-century at the County Ground tonight.
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During the first T20I of the ongoing South Africa’s tour of England in Bristol, England all-rounder Moeen Ali managed to bring up the fastest T20I half-century among English batters.
Coming in to bat at No. 5 in the 13th over, Ali scored a blistering 52 (18) comprising of two fours and six sixes in a 35-ball 106-run fourth wicket partnership alongside batter Jonny Bairstow (90). A 16-ball half-century saw Ali scoring the joint fifth-fastest half-century in this format.
In what was his third T20I half-century at home, it was his second in 2022 and at No. 5 and first against South Africa and under captain Jos Buttler (22).
It was on the third delivery he faced that Ali pulled South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada for his first boundary of the match. A few more deliveries into his innings saw Ali hitting a six and a four off South Africa all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo to get going.
Bowling his first over in international cricket, Tristan Stubbs erred to bowl a no-ball only to be hit for a six by Ali off a free-hit. The next over, 17th of the innings, was an eyewitness to Ali hitting as many as three successive sixes off Phehlukwayo as him and Bairstow collected 33 runs from that over.
Hitting a Lungi Ngidi full toss for another six in the next over propelled Ali to the 50-run mark. It was in the same over that Ali edged a Ngidi delivery to Quinton de Kock behind the wickets.
16 balls 😅
Scorecard/clips: https://t.co/PAcXkPJJwc
🏴 #ENGvSA 🇿🇦 @IGcom pic.twitter.com/cWO3obtoGx
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 27, 2022
Fastest fifty in T20 International Cricket history
| Balls | Batter | Ground | Match | Year |
| 12 | Yuvraj Singh | Durban | India vs England | 2007 |
| 13 | Mirza Ehsan | Ilfov County | Austria vs Luxembourg | 2019 |
| 14 | Colin Munro | Auckland | New Zealand vs Sri Lanka | 2016 |
| 14 | R Satheesan | Sofia | Romania vs Serbia | 2021 |
| 15 | Faisal Khan | Al Amerat | Saudi Arabia vs Kuwait | 2019 |
| 16 | Shai Hope | Sylhet | Bangladesh vs West Indies | 2018 |
| 16 | M Akayezu | Rwanda | Rwanda vs Ghana | 2021 |
| 16 | Moeen Ali | Bristol | England vs South Africa | 2022 |
Ali, 35, played a crucial role in powering England to their second-highest innings total of 234/6 in 20 overs at the County Ground tonight.
