Moeen Ali has admitted the batting depth of the West Indies is "scary" after England withstood a late blitz from lower-order pair Romario Shepherd and Akeal Hosein to win the second Twenty20 by just one run.
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England were cruising to a series-levelling victory when their opponents crumbled from 2-47 to 7-65 in pursuit of 172, with Moeen taking format-best figures of 3-24 at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
But some bruising blows from Shepherd kept a flickering hope alive and even though that was extinguished midway through the final over, Hosein closed the show with three successive sixes off Saqib Mahmood.
Shepherd and Hosein, who came in at seven and 10 respectively, each clubbed 44 not out, the latter doing so from only 16 deliveries, as the hosts made the final result so much closer than it arguably should have been.
"Obviously the game was done with three balls to go but with Shepherd still in and the way it went down, it never quite felt like we were over the line till the last ball," Moeen said.
"Even though they were six or seven down for not many runs, they were never quite out of the game, they're such a dangerous team. They've got so much talent, so much power.
"The fact they bat all the way down to number 10 makes them extremely dangerous.
"For them to lose by one run, it's actually quite scary, their batting line-up is very scary."
A day earlier, England lost the series opener by nine wickets when they were bowled out for just 103.
On Sunday, Jason Roy top-scored for England with 45 from 31 balls as the tourists posted 8-171.
After spin twins Moeen and Adil Rashid had put the squeeze on the West Indies innings in the middle overs, the hosts needed 30 runs from the last over.
Mahmood's first delivery was called a wide while Hosein was left unimpressed when the second was not and took any frustration out on England's fast bowler with two fours and three sixes in a final over that yielded 28 runs.
"You've got to go through this to get better and I'm sure he'll be taking this as a lesson," Moeen said of Mahmood.
While this five-match series is now all square with one win apiece going into Wednesday's game, a gripping conclusion means the West Indies can take more than shred of comfort despite their defeat.
Australian Associated Press
