Moeen Ali slams unbeaten hundred in T20 Blast

Moeen, who was dropped from England's Test squad after the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston, slammed 121* off just 60 balls, hitting eight fours and 11 sixes in Worcestershire’s successful chase of 185. Capitalising on an early dropped catch when he was on 5, Moeen reached his century, his second in T20s, in 50 balls, and finished off the chase with a six off Ollie Robinson.

The knock was an extension of Moeen's imperious form in the shortest format. His last four scores at the T20 Blast now read 85*, 23, 51 and 121*. It's quite the contrast to his red-ball form, underpinned by just one fifty in his last 16 Test innings. The last of his five Test centuries came way back in December 2016.

Captaining the side, Moeen walked in at No.3 to face the fourth ball of the chase, after opener Joe Leach was removed by Reece Topley, with the score on 2. He gathered support from Riki Wessels, who played the ideal foil with a 46-ball 47, as Worcestershire hunted down the target inside 18 overs. The 177-run stand laid the base for an eight-wicket win, which sealed them a spot for Finals Day.

That Sussex were able to set a challenging total was down to their opener Philip Salt, who top-scored with 72 off 40 balls, hitting five fours and as many sixes. Contributions from Luke Wright (28) and Laurie Evans (43) pushed them past 180, despite a middle-order collapse where they lost four wickets for 25 runs. Moeen played his part there, too, picking up Delray Rawlins through a caught-and-bowled, and finished with figures of 4-0-22-1.