MOMENTOUS!
Spin king gets Root reign off to a flyer
Joe Root heaped praise on Moeen Ali for the aggression he showed in bowling england to a crushing 211- run win over South Africa in the first Investec test at Lord’s.
Moeen took six for 53 to finish with a match haul of 10 for 112 — both career-bests — as the tourists were skittled for only 119 on a helter-skelter day of 19 wickets.
And england’s new test captain credited a new approach from his off- spinner, who looked a completely different prospect from the bowler who struggled in India.
‘that’s when he’s at his best, when he’s aggressive and attacking in his style,’ said Root.
‘He gets great shape on the ball, puts a lot of revs on it and makes it difficult for the batters to line him up. When you have a spinner beating both sides of the bat, it’s very difficult to play against him.’
Moeen, who scored 87 in england’s first innings and was named man of the match, credited his work with spin consultant Saqlain Mushtaq for the improvement.
‘I worked with Saqlain on trying
to get my shape back,’ he said. ‘In the winter I tried to fire it in a few more times. Here it was all about trying to hit a wider line.’ England are trying to repackage Moeen as their second spinner behind Liam Dawson and named an unchanged side for Friday’s second Test in Nottingham. For Root, who spent the game fighting off a stinking cold, it was not only Moeen who reacted positively to his Test captaincy. Root revealed: ‘All I said was I wanted us to be quite proactive, stay ahead of the game if the opportunity arises and take responsibility if you’re in a position to do so. Everyone did that at certain points.’ For interim captain Dean Elgar, South Africa’s demise undid the work of their bowlers during a disciplined pre-lunch period. ‘I thought it was game on, to be honest,’ he said. ‘When they went into lunch eight down, I thought we had given ourselves the best opportunity. It’s disappointing to be sitting here after things capitulated as they did.’