Moeen Ali believes England can take confidence going into the T20 World Cup from the way they turned around the Pakistan series.
England overturned a 3-2 deficit in the seven-match series with two resounding victories: first an eight-wicket win with five-and-a-half overs to spare and then yesterday’s 67-run victory.
They have three warm-up games against Australia starting on Sunday before their World Cup opener against Pakistan on October 17.
And going into the tournament, England’s stand-in skipper said: “If you look at the last two games in particular where they were both must-win games, going into a World Cup, that’s really, really important.
“The pressure of winning and performing and still being calm and being able to perform was huge. I feel like we’re in a very good position now and winning today’s game and winning the series going into a World Cup for sure.”
The England all-rounder ranked England as third favourites for the tournament behind hosts Australia and India but warned, “We’re a very dangerous team to play and a lot of teams will fear playing us”.
England chopped and changed their line-up for much of the seven-match series, which saw the return from long-term injuries of Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, as well as opportunities for the likes of Harry Brook and Ben Duckett to establish themselves in the side.
Jos Buttler, for whom Moeen deputised because of a calf injury, is expected to be fit for the World Cup with Ben Stokes also returning to the side.
Brook scored 238 runs at an average of 79.33 and a strike rate of 163 while Duckett hit 233 at an average of 46.6 with a strike rate of 159.5.
And their temporary captain singled them both for praise. He said: “The way the new guys have played and the way they’ve been - Ben Duckett and Harry Brook, in particular - they have been outstanding almost every game. We’re in a good position and it shows the strength in depth we have.”
Pakistan captain Babar Azam was left to rue a second one-sided game in an otherwise thrilling series. He said: “The series was vital for us and there are things that have opened up for us about where to improve especially as the T20 World Cup is a short format so it’s important we improve.”
