South Africa battled back valiantly on an increasingly capricious pitch to give themselves a fleeting chance of chasing a sub-300-run target, only for Moeen Ali to put the destiny of the series beyond any reasonable doubt
The Report by Andrew Miller06-Aug-20174:02
#PoliteEnquiries: Is Moeen the greatest?
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball commentarySouth Africa battled back valiantly on an increasingly capricious pitch to give themselves a fleeting chance of chasing a sub-300-run target, only for Moeen Ali to throw caution to the wind, and sixes into the stands, in a blistering counterattack that has surely put the destiny of the series beyond any reasonable doubt.By the time a long-threatened rain shower forced an early close, Moeen had overcome a circumspect beginning to clobber his way to 67 not out from 59 balls. It was a remarkable knock in an innings where only Joe Root, with 49, had looked anything approaching fluent, and it had taken England’s overall lead to 360 runs – far beyond anything ever chased on this ground before – with two wickets still standing.However, the early stages of Moeen’s innings had not been entirely promising, in keeping with England’s overall performance in their second innings, which – Root’s effort aside – had showcased all too many of the weaknesses that have prevented them from attaining any real consistency in their Test cricket over the past 18 months. Much of the debate centred around the continued shortcomings of Dawid Malan and, especially, Keaton Jennings, whose latest failure has left his place in the side all but untenable.With 110 runs in his first seven innings of the series, including a highest score of 48, Jennings knew he needed to make an impression to prevent the chorus of doubters from becoming deafening. And hard though he battled in England’s second innings – even with the cushion of a 136-run lead to assuage the pressure a touch – he rarely looked settled at any stage of his 63-ball stay. He was dropped on 0 before he had scored, Dean Elgar leaping to his left at third slip but failing to cling on, and though he found a degree of fluency in reaching 17 not out at lunch, the manner of his dismissal was limp in the extreme.Facing up to the energetic Kagiso Rabada, Jennings lined up the cut as the bowler dropped short, but misjudged the line to catastrophic effect. Hashim Amla accepted a simple looping edge at first slip as if standing in the outfield for catching practice, and Jennings departed with the look of a man who knew that the bailiffs were circling to call in his borrowed time.Moeen Ali struck three sixes as he reached 67 not out before the rain arrived•Getty Images
Malan scarcely made much more of a telling impression. As the newer selection, he may yet have more time on his side, but his tally after four Test innings stands at a ropey 35 runs, and today’s innings of 6 from 15 balls never convinced. Half of those runs came from a horribly miscued pull against Rabada that could have been caught by a diving Temba Bavuma at backward point, and two balls later, he fell victim to an impressive spell from the left-arm spinner, Keshav Maharaj, who found some sharp turn out of the rough to take the glove, onto the knee-roll and into the hands of short leg.England, by that stage, were 72 for 4, having lost the Essex pairing of Alastair Cook and Tom Westley before lunch, both of them caught in the gully as they aimed loose drives at the hostile Morne Morkel, who finally earned his just desserts after a luckless spell in the first innings.Root, inevitably, made the going look simpler than most, as he chivvied the singles and negated the threat of Maharaj in particular, who found less purchase off the pitch when bowling the straighter line to the right-hander, and was comfortably thwarted by some judicious slog-sweeps when he opted to go round the wicket later in his spell. But, having marched to the brink of his second fifty of the match, Root pushed loosely at Duanne Olivier, and was bowled for 49 via an inside edge.Ben Stokes battled valiantly, channelling his success on the subcontinent to ride out the threat that Maharaj in particular was posing on a pitch with variable bounce. But he led a charmed life in his 23, including a stinging drop from a diving Heino Kuhn at short midwicket and a curious non-appeal from Morkel when he appeared to feather an edge to the keeper on 5. However, with tea approaching, Olivier was rewarded with a second scalp, as Stokes pushed too hard outside off, and was well snaffled by du Plessis at third slip.Enter Moeen, though not the Turbo-charged version of the final hour. He all but chopped onto his stumps first ball, and after tea, England scarcely looked like changing the pattern of their innings. Jonny Bairstow lacked the fluency of his first-innings masterclass, taking 25 balls to get off the mark before holing out to his 30th, well caught at fine leg by Rabada to give Olivier his third wicket of a fine and aggressive spell, and before the new batsman, Toby Roland-Jones had faced a ball, Moeen had survived another near-miss – dropped at slip by Elgar, whose elbows jolted the ball out of his grasp as he dived to his left off Maharaj.But that reprieve appeared to flick a switch in Moeen’s mindset, and his attitude to Maharaj thereafter was one of selective disdain. While mindful of the threat he still posed out of the rough, Moeen trusted his eye and his long levers, sweeping with intent – conventional and reverse – and drilling high and hard with the spin for three vast sixes, the second of which was caught on the player’s balcony by a gleeful Bairstow as he brought up his fifty from 49 balls.Roland-Jones, who has showcased a keen eye in his brief career to date, kept him company in a 58-run stand for the eighth wicket before Rabada induced a top-edged pull to a diving Maharaj at deep midwicket. But Moeen was by now motoring, bashing Rabada back over his head for four off what would prove to be the day’s penultimate delivery. He would have backed himself to keep cracking on, much as he had done in similar circumstances in the first Test at Lord’s, but – with two days to come and South Africa’s heads beginning to droop – his intercession has surely been decisive.