Stand-in captain Ali shines as England level T20I series with West Indies

England got off to a poor start when Tom Banton was caught by Kyle Mayers off the bowling of Jason Holder in the second over, but Jason Roy and James Vince did superbly to get the tourists back on track.

Roy was ultimately caught on 52 by wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran after getting a thick edge on a ball from Kieron Pollard, while Vince went soon after for 34 from the bowling of Akeal Hosein.

That set the stage for Ali to shine, the stand-in captain plundering four consecutive sixes off Holder on his way to 63 from just 28 balls before falling in the 19th over as England set the Windies 194 to win.

The series will go down to the final game! Scorecard: https://t.co/uh14134Nz6 #WIvENG pic.twitter.com/fkfu5sanFz

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 29, 2022

They got off to a flying start, racing to 64-0, but Ali took the wickets of openers Mayers (40) and Brandon King (26) in quick succession to halt the hosts' charge.

Holder added 36 runs, yet the West Indies never looked like setting up a grandstand finale as England comfortably saw the match out to set up a mouth-watering decider on Sunday.

Ali was once again leading the team after the injury that had kept Eoin Morgan out of the third test ultimately ended his series, and he did not let the additional responsibility derail his game.

His big-hitting 63 was crucial to setting the West Indies a target that proved too great to chase, while he more than played his part with the ball, taking two wickets for 28 runs.

Tymal Mills did not have anything like the same success as his skipper with the ball.