Ali admits ‘dirty runs’ saved England on opening day
Moeen Ali admitted England made “dirty runs” after Bangladesh's 18-year-old spinner Mehedi Hasan's five-wicket haul on debut put the tourists under pressure in Chittagong yesterday. England ended day one of the first Test on a respectable 258 for seven, recovering from 21 for three and 106 for five thanks to battling half-centuries from Moeen and Jonny Bairstow on a pitch that offered considerable turn from the start.
Both batsmen led charmed lives, however, as Moeen had to overturn three on-field lbw decisions against him, while Bangladesh spurned two reviews on the left-hander, who went on to top score with 68 from 170
balls. Baristow went past 1,000 calendar runs for the year in his 52 from 126 balls, but he benefited from being dropped on 13.
Moeen said: “It was very tough, it was the hardest 60 I've ever made. They bowled well, they bowled very accurately. And it's not just about surviving, it's about scoring runs. I didn't think it was going to spin as much. You saw the new ball, it spun straight away and it's not easy to play against, especially the new ball as not every ball spins. After that it spun, but more regularly which makes it a bit easier.
“We said at one point that 250 might even be a good score, but Jonny and myself had a crucial partnership. We are going to have to be quite greedy (on day two), and hopefully get close to 300. They were dirty runs today. It was a massive mental challenge, especially with the reviews. I kept missing the ball and it hit my pad. I couldn't figure out why. It was a good mental challenge.”
Moeen was given out lbw by umpire Kumar Dharmasena three times in the space of six Shakib Al Hasan deliveries either side of the lunch interval. However, a faint nick rescued him the first time and technology bailed him out twice more, with ball tracking showing the next 'out' decision to be missing the stumps, while two balls later the impact was outside the line.
Moeen, who credited Dharmasena a couple of years ago with improving his off-spin, said: “We are normally pretty tight, but we didn't speak for a session. It was a tough pitch to umpire, but what can I say? The guy gave me out three times! I knew I had hit the first one or gloved it, there was definitely something there. (Joe) Root saved me on the other two. You have the reviews to take, so it's not luck. The way I was set up, I was trying to bat on off stump or on middle and off, so there's less chance of me being out lbw.”