Not even the small matter of 17 sixes and a 57-ball hundred were enough to spare Eoin Morgan from the sharp tongue of the arbiter of the dressing-room humour that is helping England cope with the pressure of a home World Cup.
Moeen Ali, who makes his 100th one-day appearance against Sri Lanka on Friday, is known as a man of serious principles, but he is also England's joker-in-chief, ensuring his team-mates retain a smile in the heat of battle.
And Moeen was quick to target his captain at Old Trafford on Tuesday even after he had made one-day history against Afghanistan with his extraordinary six-hitting display.
Moeen Ali is set to make his 100th one-day international appearance for England on Friday
The all-rounder is playing up to his joker-in-chief mantle during this World Cup
'You cannot get away with anything in this team,' said Moeen at Headingley on Thursday. I do not miss a trick.
'When Morgy hit 17 sixes I turned around and said, "But I hit the biggest one". I felt my first off Rashid Khan was the biggest of the day.
'When someone goes past 53 balls (Moeen's fastest hundred) like Eoin did at Old Trafford, I always say, "Yeah it's a great knock but it's a bit slow for my liking".
'We have a lot of fun and are ripping each other all the time. We get stuck into each other about everything, about our football games, about playing Fifa.
'It's all part of team bonding and it's very natural. During the World Twenty20 in India, we literally had a laugh all the way through.
'But then we probably took the Champions Trophy too seriously, so now we want to stay true to ourselves.
Moeen was quick to target captain Eoin Morgan even after his extraordinary six-hitting
Jonny Bairstow and Jofra Archer laugh around during a training session at Headingley
'Actually, we need to have more of a laugh in the World Cup and enjoy it as much as we can, even more so as the pressure grows.
'We are only going to do this once and it's a great opportunity to win the World Cup at home.'
There is much debate within the team about the six-hitting merits of the explosive talents who broke their own record by
