New England captain Joe Root on Sunday praised the parts played by predecessor Alastair Cook and all-rounder Moeen Ali after his first Test as skipper ended in a thumping 211-run win over South Africa at Lord’s in London.
Off-spinner Ali took 6-53 as South Africa, set 331 for victory, collapsed to 119 all out inside 37 overs with more than a day to spare as England went 1-0 up in the four-match series.
His return gave Ali overall figures of 10-112 — the first 10-wicket haul of his 38-Test career.
Photo: AFP
Although Root struck a brilliant 190 in England’s first innings of 458, it was Ali who received the man-of-the-match award after he made 87 in the same innings to accompany his bowling feats.
England lost seven wickets before lunch on the fourth day after resuming on 119-1, but with opener Cook, England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer, making 69 and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow 51 they still compiled 233 in their second innings.
In total, 19 wickets fell on Sunday on a Lord’s pitch taking sharp spin and Root, asked for his view of an extraordinary day’s play, told reporters: “I think what it does tell us is how well guys played last night — Cooky, Keaton [Jennings] and Gary [Ballance].”
“That 100 runs coming into today, I think they made the wicket look a lot easier than it was — and probably it was worth double,” he said. “They need a lot of credit, and obviously the way Moeen and the rest of the guys bowled today was brilliant.”
The match saw Ali become the fifth-quickest player, in terms of matches played, to complete the all-rounder’s double of 2,000 Test runs and 100 wickets.
Sometimes criticized for being too expensive with the ball, Ali — who made his name with Worcestershire as a batsman — nevertheless has the happy knack of dismissing leading top-order players, with his first innings haul of 4-59 including the wicket of Proteas star Hashim Amla.
With left-arm spinner Liam Dawson selected as much for his ability to keep things tight as to take wickets, Ali had the freedom to attack at Lord’s.
“That’s when he’s at his best, when he is aggressive,” Root said. “He was outstanding. If you ask Mo, he’ll always tell you he feels he’s a batter that bowls. The great thing about our top seven is we have two really good bowling options [in Ali and all-rounder Ben Stokes]. That’s a real luxury ... it just gives us great depth.”
However, Root was ready for South Africa — who have not lost an away Test series in 10 years — to come back strongly in the second Test in Nottingham on Friday.
“They are a great side and we have to make sure we prepare well for Trent Bridge,” he said. “We should take a lot of confidence from this and I hope we can gather momentum.”
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