“We are good when the pitch is flat”: Moeen Ali blames batting failure for the series defeat against West Indies

Moeen Ali blamed the batting of the side after England lost the 5th T20I against West Indies and lost the series as well.

West Indies defeated England by 17 runs in the fifth T20I to seal the series by 3-2. Ahead of the series, England were the clear favourites to win the series. There were some absentees in the English team, but the players available were all T20 specialists.

In the 5th T20I, West Indies won the toss and opted to bat. They managed to score 179 runs courtesy of some brilliant hitting by Kieron Pollard and Rovman Powell at the death. In return, England managed to score just 162 runs and lost the game. James Vince scored a half-century for England, whereas Billings also played a decent knock.

The English side needed 20 runs to win in the final over with four wickets in hand, but Jason Holder had other plans. Holder scalped four wickets in four balls to complete a double hat-trick. He became the first West Indies bowler to take a T20I hat-trick. Apart from Jason Holder’s five wickets, Akeal Hosein also scalped four wickets in the game.

Moeen Ali blames batting for the defeat against West Indies

After the win, captain Moeen Ali said that the team could not adjust to the conditions, and the West Indies were the better team.

“I thought West Indies were the better team tonight,” Ali said.

“We didn’t adapt well to the conditions, we played well but fell short in the end. It’s something we need to work on.”

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Moeen Ali also blamed the batting of the side for the defeat in the game. He said that the ball was coming on nicely, but the batters play well only when the pitch is flat.

“The new ball came nicely, and was difficult when it became softer,” Ali added.

“But they were really good at adjusting to those. It’s been a great lesson, these are the conditions we want to get better, we’re good when the pitch is flat.”

“It’s great fun as a captain, but Morgs is a brilliant captain, I did enjoy it though.”