A few people reckon that Moeen Ali should not open the batting for England as he is vulnerable to moving balls and is not a good back foot player either.

But, the Worcestershire left hander gave a strong answer to those people with his knock against Scotland earlier today in Christchurch. He made a beautiful hundred and gave the Poms a huge start along with Ian Bell.

The situation which Moeen had left England in, they could have got to 340 from there if not for some quick lower order wickets.
Nevertheless, England’s score reached 300 and that was enough for the minnow opposition.

As far as Moeen is concerned, there was nobody with express pace in that Scotland bowling line up to test him with the short stuff, but, there was surely a bit of movement early on and he showed good application during that phase.

Lofted cover drive is Moeen’s favourite shot and it’s hard for him to resist the temptation of playing that shot whenever the ball is pitched up.

But, when the ball swings, it’s important for even the stroke makers to leave a few at the start. The white new ball doesn’t move for long durations. It’s just about the first 15-20 minutes or so and then, it gets easy.

Moeen will have to make sure he remains watchful in the early overs in the coming games – though titanbet are currently running a market on him getting out within his first 6 bowls. He is such a gifted player that he can play long innings if he gets past the tough starting period.

Moeen did his job with the ball too against Scotland. He got a couple of wickets which would only add to his confidence.
With 2 points in 3 games, England is at the 6th position in Pool A right now.