England allrounder ends eventful day in style, playing key all-round roles in semi-final and decider at Edgbaston
Moeen leads Rapids to T20 glory
Moeen Ali found himself making headlines on the field as well as off it after he led Worcestershire to the English T20 Blast title with victory over Sussex in the final at Edgbaston on Saturday.
A memorable finals day for the England allrounder started with an allegation, contained in an extract from his autobiography published in Britain's The Times newspaper, that he was called "Osama" by an Australia player during the 2015 Ashes series.
On the field, the Worcestershire captain scored 41 and took 2-16 with his off-spinners, including the wicket of England team-mate Jos Buttler, as his side beat Lancashire by 20 runs in the opening semi-final.
He then took 3-30 as Worcestershire held Sussex to a total of 6-157 in the final at Edgbaston – a target the Midlands side chased down with five wickets in hand, with wicketkeeper Ben Cox making an unbeaten 46 and Moeen contributing 41.
"I just knew we were going to win today," said Moeen, whose side owed their place in the final to an impressive semi-final return of 4-21 from 20-year-old seamer Pat Brown.
"We were amazing. We won the crucial moments in the game."
Earlier, Cricket Australia (CA) responded to Moeen's damning comments by saying it was launching an investigation, saying the remark he'd allegedly heard was "unacceptable".
Moeen, a 31-year-old practising Muslim, said he was on the receiving end of the slur, a reference to Osama bin Laden, from an unnamed opponent during his Ashes debut against Australia in Cardiff three years ago.