At the beginning of the second day of the third Test at Headingley, England discovered themselves in bother at 87-5, trailing Australia‘s first-innings complete of 263 .However, Stokes, who had beforehand delivered a shocking 155 within the defeat at Lord’s, displayed his brilliance as soon as once more, scoring 80 runs off 108 balls, together with six fours and 5 sixes.
His spectacular innings guided England to a complete of 237 all out, a mere 26 runs behind Australia.Moeen, the off-spinner, performed his half by taking two wickets for simply two runs in a span of 9 balls, dismissing Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. Australia completed the day’s play at 116-4 of their second innings, holding a lead of 142 runs.
Although Australia nonetheless maintained the benefit of their pursuit of a primary away Ashes collection victory in 22 years, English followers can now dare to dream of witnessing a repeat of Stokes’s heroic efficiency at Headingley in 2019. It was in that memorable Ashes Test that Stokes’s unimaginable unbeaten 135 guided England to a rare one-wicket win over Australia, permitting them to create an enduring legacy.
But whereas Moeen warned in opposition to an over-reliance on the all-rounder, battling a longstanding left knee drawback amongst a number of health points, he stated: “Ben’s a brilliant player. He’s the one player in the world who everyone will be thinking about in that situation, especially against Australia because he has done it a couple of times now.
“As lengthy as he is there, you’ve got all the time acquired an important probability of successful. It’s the conditions greater than something, he loves these conditions, he thrives off them.”
Moeen added: “We cannot depend on him on a regular basis. We do have harmful gamers who we simply want to come back to the celebration in addition to Ben… His physique has clearly been by way of loads however there’s one factor with Ben, he cannot do something with out it being 100%.”
Moeen’s bowling prowess is not typically associated with containment, but he showcased his talent by dismissing Labuschagne and Smith, reaching the milestone of 200 Test wickets. Among England spinners, only Derek Underwood (297) and Graeme Swann (255) have achieved greater feats. Moeen accomplished this feat in an impressive fashion, conceding only 34 runs in 17 overs, displaying great economy with figures of 2-34.
This remarkable achievement came on the heels of a finger injury that had sidelined Moeen from action at Lord’s, following his return to Test cricket in the series opener at Edgbaston.
“My finger is ok, it is sore however I can bowl,” said Moeen. “I’m happy with the 200 wickets.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins took an impressive 6-91 but the fast bowler could not dismiss Stokes, dropped twice on 45 but eventually falling to the off-spin of Todd Murphy.
“When Stokes is there you might be by no means in complete management,” admitted Australia head coach Andrew McDonald, who added: “Full credit score to Ben, his method of batting with the tail might be second to none.
“We have to work out a way to navigate through Ben Stokes in the second innings.”
(With company inputs)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com