Moeen Ali warmed up for England's T20 series against Pakistan with a four wicket haul in the 79 run victory over a UAE X1 in Abu Dhabi today.
The Worcestershire all-rounder finished with 4-11 from his three over spell as UAE closed on 95-9 in reply to England's 174-6.
Moeen claimed the last four wickets to fall in Ahmed Shaukat (8), then Mohammed Quasim (12) and Abdul Shakoor (0) in successive balls, before returning to the attack to dismiss top scorer Fahad Tariq (23).
Earlier Moeen found himself in yet another different position in the batting order – number four – after England had been put into bat.
The 28-year-old made 20 off 16 balls after Jason Roy (59) and Alex Hales (40) had put on 92 for the first wicket in seven overs.
England, fresh from their 3-1 success in the ODI Series with Pakistan, will face three T20Is in the space of five days.
There are back to back matches in Dubai on November 26 and 27 before the series is completed in Sharjah on November 30.
Moeen ended the ODI Series with six wickets for his efforts with the ball from the four games.
Only Chris Woakes with eight victims picked up more wickets than the 28-year-old who ended the series with a flourish by taking three wickets in three overs in Dubai.
BOWLING AVERAGES
Woakes Matches 4, Overs 34.3, Maidens 1, Runs 159, Wickets 8, Average 19.87
Willey 4, 31, 0, 147, 6, 24.50
Topley 4, 35.5, 2, 158, 6, 26.33
MOEEN 4, 36.4, 0, 165, 6, 27.50
Rashid 4, 39, 1, 221, 4, 55.25
Root 4, 3, 0, 12, 0 —–
On the batting front, Moeen was restricted to facing just 19 deliveries in the series, scoring 13 runs in three short knocks with two not outs at an average of 13.00.