This Day That Year: Moeen Ali took a hattrick in Test match against South Africa
Moeen Ali became the first
off-spinner from England to pick-up a hattrick after a gap of 79 years. He
achieved the feat during the final day of the 3rd Test match played at Kennington
Oval, London.
Defending a massive target of 492 runs to win, Roland Jones
and Ben Stokes did the job for the hosts by picking the first seven wickets.
Ali took the wicket of centurion Dean Elgar with a good catch by Stokes at
slips, Rabada with the same dismissal as Elgar and Morne Morkel off the very
first ball. England took the review to dismiss Morne Morkel. He helped England
bowl out South Africa for 252. England won the match by 239 runs.
Moeen Ali finished with figures of 4 for 45 in 16.1 overs.
Apart from the hattrick, he took the wicket of Chris Morris. Moeen bowled just 5
overs in the first innings. With the bat, he made 16 and 8. It was an amazing atmosphere
during the final day. The Kennington Oval, London was hosting the 100th
Test match.
Moeen made his Test debut against Sri Lanka on 12th
June 2014. He played a total of 60 matches ( 104 innings) and scored 2782 runs
with a career-best score of 155. His performances in the longer format have not
been up to the mark as he played last Test match against Australia during the
first Ashes Test match at Edgbaston, Birmingham. Since then, he has not been a
part of the Test squad.
With the ball, Moeen Ali has taken 181 wickets from 60
matches ( 105 innings) with best figures of 6 for 53. Tom Goddard achieved the
feat of becoming the first off-spinner to take a hat-trick in Test matches. He
picked 3 wickets against South Africa on 26th December 1938.
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| This Day That Year: Moeen Ali became the first off-spinner to take a hattrick in Test matches |
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