ENG v SA, 4th Test, Day 4 Review: Moeen Ali spins a web, England seal the series with an emphatic victory

There was a moment on Day four when Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla ignited hopes of a sensational comeback, but a certain Moeen Ali came in their way, just the way he did in England’s second innings. Ali picked up a fifer completely against the run of play on Day 4 and gifted England a 177 run victory in the final Test of the English summer.

England couldn’t add much to their overnight score of 224/8 and were bowled out for 243 runs, courtesy some spectacular rendition of fast bowling from the senior pro Morne Morkel. Moeen Ali remained not out on 75 off 66 balls and this posted a mammoth 380 run target for the visitors. Morkel was the pick of the bowlers, who finished with impressive figures of 4/41.

The agony just took legs and spread like an infection as the South African top order tumbled quite disastrously. Dean Elgar was the first man to walk back and it was Stuart Broad who delivered the breakthrough. After James Anderson’s class sent back Heino Kuhn. Bavuma and Amla tried to approach with a completely defensive approach and that didn’t work out by any stretch of the imagination.

The new kid in the block Toby Roland-Jones was the man who provided England with their third wicket as Bavuma nicked it straight to the keeper Jonny Bairstow. With the visitors strangling at 40/3, the match seemed to be done and dusted and that was when a fantastic partnership added life to the game.

Counter attack from Amla and Du Plessis

The defensive approach didn’t reap the benefits they had expected and hence, Faf du Plessis(61 off 85 balls) and Hashim Amla decided to shift gears. They went all out on the bowlers and gathered runs at a decent rate. Du Plessis was the chief aggressor in the innings, spanking a boundary once in every two overs.

Roland-Jones went at over 5 an over thanks to the onslaught from these two gentlemen. Amla soon completed a mind boggling half-century and the scoring rate just kept creeping upwards. Amla was at his fluent best and Du Plessis too showed no mercy. The skipper soon completed his half-century and a century stand between the duo made the match look incredibly interesting.

Once again, its Moeen Ali

Trying to shuffle and nudge the ball towards fine leg, Amla was deceived by the turn from Moeen Ali and though the umpire turned down the appeal, the DRS came into play and Amla had to walk back after scoring a scintillating 83 off 159 balls. In his next over, Ali trapped the southpaw Quinton de Kock and half the side was back in the gallery, courtesy some magical spin bowling from the 30-year-old.

Theunis de Bruyn’s horror run continued as he was dismissed in the same over by Ali with Stokes taking a regulation catch at second slip. Then came the killer blow in the game, when James Anderson picked up the prized scalp of skipper Du Plessis. That was the game for England as South Africa never looked competent enough post his dismissal.

Keshav Maharaj stuck in there for some time, but the hosts were just too difficult to handle. After Anderson picked up Kagiso Rabada’s wicket, Ali dismissed Morne Morkel and Duanne Olivier off consecutive deliveries to seal their first Test series triumph at home against South Africa in two decades.

For a spectacular rendition of aggressive batting and magical bowling, Moeen Ali was adjudged the man of the match and man of the series. This indeed was a spectacular series for the all-rounder, who has remained in the shadow of Ben Stokes in the previous few tours, but that won’t be the case when England enter the battlefield the next time.

Brief Scores

1st Innings

England: 362 all out in 108.4 overs (Jonny Bairstow 99, Kagiso Rabada 4/91)

South Africa: 226 all out in 72.1 overs (Temba Bavuma 46, Hashim Amla 30, Anderson 4/38)

2nd innings

England: 243 all out in 69.1 overs (Moeen Ali 75*, Joe Root 49, Morne Morkel 4/41, Duanne Olivier 3/38)

South Africa: 202 all out in 62.5 overs (Hashim Amla 83, Faf du Plessis 61, Moeen Ali 5/69)