Ali puts tourists in a spin to get

MOEEN Ali’s career-best bowling helped Joe Root start his tenure as Test captain with a resounding 211run victory inside four days as 19 wickets fell in three remarkable sessions at Lord’s.

Jonny Bairstow also bailed out England with a defiant half-century, after a collapse of seven wickets for 43 runs, and then kick-started South Africa’s descent to 119 all out with an athletic leg-side catch as their attempt to pull off the ground’s second-highest run chase veered instead on to the fast track to defeat. Spin then predictably did much of the damage on a decidedly helpful surface, as Moeen (six for 53) finished with a 10-wicket match haul and Liam Dawson did his bit too.

It was Root himself, however, who laid the foundations for success on captaincy debut with his firstinnings 190 – 103 more than any other batsman managed for either side – as England put behind them the four consecutive defeats in India last winter which ended Alastair Cook’s record-breaking era in charge. Bairstow, dropped on just seven by Vernon Philander at longoff, stood firm with a 74-ball 50 while England lost four wickets for 10 runs and then three for two in a total of 233 all out which nonetheless left the tourists with a taxing target of 331.

South Africa opener Heino Kuhn completed his unsuccessful maiden Test with a second single-figure score, caught by Bairstow off James Anderson; then Moeen held a headhigh return catch to account for Dean Elgar, and JP Duminy mistimed a pull to give Mark Wood his first Test wicket on his long-awaited return from ankle surgery.

That was from the last delivery before tea, and South Africa’s slide continued apace almost immediately afterwards when Dawson turned one up the slope in his first over to