Eoin Morgan talked up the importance of Moeen Ali to his England side after the all-rounder played a key role in the 72-run victory over South Africa at Headingley.
Moeen was left out of the team for the two-match series against Ireland with Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes all playing in the Indian Premier League.
But he returned in place of the in-form Jonny Bairstow for the Royal London Series opener and was named man of the match after hitting 77 off 51 balls and taking two for 50.
"If he didn't get any runs and had a bad day, I'd probably pick him again, " Morgan said at the presentation.
"I have that much confidence in the guy. He's made some huge contributions for us over the last couple of years and beyond that.
"The fact he missed the Ireland games and comes back in and puts in a performance like this sums up him as a character.
"He's had a fantastic day and huge credit to him."
Morgan himself was the mainstay of England's innings, his 107 off 93 deliveries laying the platform for the hosts' imposing total of 339 for six.
Woakes then took four for 38 as South Africa were dismissed for 267 having hit only two sixes to England's 12.
"It was a pretty good day at the office for us," added Morgan, speaking to Sky Sports.
"We gave ourselves the best opportunity to get a par score and beyond with the partnerships we built.
"I've felt good for a while. I didn't necessarily play a lot of games in the IPL, which is disappointing, but you take that as a learning curve.
"I got a few runs in the Ireland game (at Lord's) which was nice and to continue that here is a nice feeling."
South Africa captain AB de Villiers, who scored 45 in the run chase, conceded England were worthy winners.
"England played phenomenally well with the bat," said De Villiers.
"Credit to Morgs for that hundred. I thought he really dominated the bowling attack and manipulated us really well. It was difficult to stop that.
"It was probably about 20 to 30 above par. We didn't bat well enough. We definitely should have come a bit closer.
"But at the end of the day, congrats and credit to England."
Source: PA
