Rashid Khan believes Moeen, Willey took the World T20 match away from the Afghans

In a crucial World T20 match between Afghanistan and England, Moeen Ali and David Willey batted brilliantly to rescue England from a precarious position of 85/7 in 14.3 overs. The eighth-wicket partnership of 57 runs swung the momentum of the match towards England, opined Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan.

Moeen Ali’s temperament and class were evident in his knock of 41 off 33 balls. He spanked 4 fours and 1 six and led the England recovery. He was well supported by Willey who made 20 off 17 including 2 massive sixes. The 19th over from Hamza went for 25 and proved a huge difference in the end.

“The last five overs of our innings were crucial. They took the game away from us there. At 57/6, we had a great chance and were thinking of restricting them below 100. But Moeen played well. He batted according to the situation, rotated the strike at the beginning of his innings and hit big shots towards the end,” leg-spinner Rashid Khan said at the post-match press conference.

England captain Eoin Morgan, out for a first-ball duck which he attributed to an error in judgement, also identified the late order blitz to be the reason for their win.

“We needed to set a decent score on the board and targeted 120-125. But the 18th and the 19th over helped us a long way. The Moeen-David partnership was very important because chasing 120 and 140 are very different. Moeen came up with the goods,” he said after the match.

He was not unduly worried about their batting collapse, losing three wickets in an over, before the crucial game against Sri Lanka here on Saturday.

“Our strength is that we bat deep. No concern about our batting. It was a matter of adapting to the wicket. We have been practicing it but couldn’t execute it today. We learnt a lot about the wicket. It will help us against Sri Lanka,” he said.

Lauding Afghanistan’s effort Morgan stated, “Afghanistan is probably the best associate nation at the moment. They are playing really well and improving with each outing.”

Rashid who bowled a spell of 2/17 from 4 overs was satisfied with the performance and said, “We played a good game. Our spinners bowled very well and did their job. We aimed to restrict them to 100. We came close while chasing. The start was important. Unfortunately, we didn’t start well, lost three wickets early. Hopefully, we will learn from our mistakes.”