Moeen Ali: Means a lot to play 100th ODI for England

Asked about his most memorable moment from the previous 99 matches, the 32-year-old picked his 53-ball century against the West Indies in Bristol, in 2017.

Moeen Ali is reluctant to admit that the four semifinalists have been spotted.

Moeen Ali will play his 100th ODI when England takes on Sri Lanka in a World Cup fixture at Headingley on Friday.

“It means a lot to play 100 games for England. It’s a dream. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would get close to it,” Moeen, who broke into the ODI side in 2015, said.

Asked about his most memorable moment from the previous 99 matches, the 32-year-old picked his 53-ball century against the West Indies in Bristol, in 2017.

England overhauled the national setup, post the 2015 World Cup debacle, and, Moeen is happy to have played a part in it. “I would always think I was part of that change and that whole mindset changing and the great cricket that we’ve played,” Moeen said.

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Happy with the team’s progress in the current edition of the tournament, he said: “The team is in great shape. Even if we have some big injuries, we've got players, who are not playing but are very good. The environment's amazing.”

Moeen, however, is reluctant to admit that the four semifinalists have been spotted.

“Anything can happen. I’m sure teams like Bangladesh will have something to say about that, they are playing well. You can lose to anybody in this tournament,” Moeen said. “Sri Lanka pose a big threat tomorrow. They were playing well against Australia and could have won that game.”