I just had a slog, and everything came off: Moeen

Despite smashing the second fastest century by an England player in One-Day Internationals, Moeen Ali was extremely modest when talking about his feat after the host's 124-run win over Windies in Bristol on Sunday (September 24).

Moeen stepped up the assault in his final 14 deliveries - smashing his eight sixes and two boundaries as England reached 369 for 9, its highest ever total against Windies in ODIs. Moeen ended with an astonishing 57-ball 102 while Joe Root and Ben Stokes both chipped in with fifties of their own.

But the allrounder may have cause to be modest considering there were 28 sixes hit in the match overall, with six coming from Chris Gayle, who was returning from a hamstring injury. Gayle's onslaught saw the opener hit 94 from 78 balls but without much support from his fellow batsmen, Windies fell short by 124 runs and England secured a 2-0 lead in the series with two matches to go.

According to Moeen, whose style of batting is rather opposite to that of Gayle's, the stadium in Bristol offered plenty of chances to hit sixes down the ground.

"I just had a slog really, and everything just seemed to come off," Moeen told reporters.

"I thought we'd got ourselves in, and it was time to press the button and play a few shots -- it's not a massive hit for six (here)."

The size of the ground was also touched upon by Jason Holder, the Windies captain, who himself was in fine form with both bat and ball, hitting 34 off 26 deliveries after taking two wickets.

"We just didn't finish off well," said Holder, referring to England’s late onslaught after being 217 for 6. "They (England) bat deep. He (Ali) has played a special innings. I think we didn't execute our plans towards him. It's a small ground and he backed himself to clear it."

But a small ray of hope shone through in the form of big-hitting Gayle, whose knock pushed away fears that the 38-year old might be carrying the injury into the match.

"It was very special," said Holder of Gayle's innings, which also featured nine boundaries.

"Not only did he get the start we wanted, he carried on and batted into the innings. That was important, the longer he stays out there, the more England fear."

While Gayle's image leads with the self-styled nickname, 'Universe Boss', Holder insisted that there was more to the Jamaican than met the eye.

"Chris is always a relaxed guy but, if you go to him, you'd be surprised by the amount of information you get from him," said Holder.

"I've been privy to having a few chats with him in the last couple of days and it's been wonderful. He's shared a lot of information and helped me out a lot on the field. It's really good to have a guy like him playing for you. Hopefully his body will allow to him carry on a lot longer."

But despite there being no chance of Windies winning the series, Holder was adamant that his side is on its way to becoming a competitive ODI team and emulating its Twenty20 success.

"We just need to knuckle down a little more, especially when we bat. Death bowling has obviously been a cause for concern in the recent past and we really need to tighten up there as well."