ENG v SA, 1st Test, Day 4 Review: Moeen Ali stars in England's rout of South Africa

Wickets galore on Day 4 at Lord’s; as many as 19 fell on the scheduled penultimate day of this first Test, but England in unison ensured they wouldn’t have to come back tomorrow. The South Africans fell like nine pins in pursuit of 331, a target that was well and truly attainable given that they had almost five sessions to get there. Moeen Ali piled up on his already notable achievements with a 6-wicket haul in the second innings. His final bounty for the game was the completion of 2000 runs and 100 wickets, along with scoring a fifty, bagging a five-for and 10 wickets in the game, a staggering tally by any standards.

There was nothing staggering about the Proteas though, who wore dejected expressions while seated at the Lord’s balcony. England’s victory by 211 runs only proved that rankings don’t always matter – the no.4 team had made a mockery of the second-ranked South Africans, especially in the fourth innings.

England’s middle order collapses

That being said, the hosts had their own share of worries times as well. Despite Alastair Cook’s steady half century on Day 3, he fell for 69 early on Day 4. Gary Ballance followed shortly after, and thus began a major collapse. England went from 139/1 to being bundled out for 233, with Jonny Bairstow being the only notable contributor in the middle order.

The visitors’ response bore some similarities to England’s third innings. Their collapses came in waves, once in the 10s, then in the 20s, and from the 60s onwards they virtually lost a wicket every dozen runs. Heino Kuhn’s debut Test was not one he’d remember, as he perished before hitting double figures for the second time. Dean Elgar’s first innings responsibility was not on display this time, once again falling to Moeen Ali who nabbed a sharp return catch at chest height.

At the stroke of Tea, JP Duminy hammered a short ball straight to midwicket, much to the delight of Liam Dawson, who honestly did not deserve a wicket for his half-tracker. England were all over South Africa in the chase, with the scoreboard reading 25/3 in favour of the home team. Quinton de Kock was promoted up the order to pull the rag back beneath their feet. But alas, it was his more experienced partner Hashim Amla who bit the dust. Joe Root’s call to bring Dawson on was made to look like a masterstroke, but England’s best was yet to come.

Moeen Ali rips through South Africa’s batting order

Temba Bavuma joined de Kock, and the duo began mending the fissures England had caused early on. They pulled things back from 28/4 to 64/4, and just as they were looking to dig deep at the crease, Moeen Ali gave the breakthrough England needed. Luck didn’t side Quinton de Kock as he ended up dragging a short one into the stumps.

Since the wickets came in pairs for South Africa, Bavuma followed an over later. The bowler was once again Moeen Ali, who had put England in the driver’s seat by now. The scenes kept getting better for the English fans who had flocked to Lord’s on Day as Moeen removed de Bruyn as well. To the South Africans, the scoreboard bore an ominous look at 72/7, and soon Moeen turned it into 82/8. The Lord’s honours’ board got its latest inductee as Moeen Ali shyly showed the red cherry after having bagged his fifth wicket in the innings. Not many would have predicted that his ability to bowl a few off-spinners would one day win England a Test match against a team as robust as South Africa.

Kagiso Rabada was batting for the last time until the end of July but contributed just 4 to South Africa’s already sorry total. He was Moeen’s tenth scalp for the match, and sixth in the innings. Morne Morkel swung his bat at loopy deliveries from Dawson, and two of them cleared the ropes. The third attempt in the over landed in the hands of Keaton Jennings at deep midwicket. First honours went to England with their resounding win at Lord’s. As for South Africa, they will have a lot to ponder over before they take the field at Trent Bridge.

Brief scores

1st Innings

England – 458 (Joe Root 190, Morne Morkel 4/115)

South Africa – 361 (Temba Bavuma 59, Moeen Ali 4/59)

2nd Innings

England – 233 (Alastair Cook 69, Keshav Maharaj 4/85)

South Africa – 119 (Temba Bavuma 21, Moeen Ali 6/53)

England won by 211 runs