ON A MOEEN STREAK

Magic Ali comes up with a masterclass to help Cook’s men out of the mire

MOEEN ALI opened his shoulders and unfurled stroke after stroke of unfettered beauty to hit his fourth hundred of the year and give England a day to cheer in Chennai.

The team’s ‘Mr Adaptable’ has been shunted up and down the order like a yo-yo, but he keeps coming back with important contributions and his 120 not out was another example of his all-round ability.

Entering the game at 21-2, Ali could have been caught at mid-wicket for nought by KL Rahul, but it burst through his hands and the Worcestershire man did not look back.

England want him to be a top-order batsman who bowls rather than a frontline spinner, and for the second time in the series he proved he can deliver runs when the team need it.

The challenge will be for him to keep the consistency going into 2017.

As the fourth England batsman to top 1,000 runs for the year, Ali is not alone in making the most of the 17 Tests they have played since January 1. But perhaps now he has done enough to make sure he stays in one spot when South Africa are the opposition in July.

“I thought the way Mo played throughout the day was excellent,” said Joe Root, who made 88 out of 284-4 on day one. “It was quite tough to start your innings out there and it was a tough situation when we had just lost two wickets.

“But the maturity he showed was brilliant.

“The added responsibility of batting higher up the order, he’s taken really well throughout this tour and proven it with two brilliant hundreds.

“The way he went through the gears and put their bowlers back under pressure was great.

“It is difficult when you’re moving up and down the order but I think that is the sign of a good player who can adapt to those different positions and still be successful in all areas.”

Keaton Jennings and Alastair Cook had been the early men to go, but Root and Ali added 146 for the fourth wicket before the vice-captain fell 12 short of three figures and 10 runs short of Michael Vaughan’s record for most runs in a calendar year.

It is a bit of a Yorkshire love-in at the top of that chart with Jonny Bairstow also in the running to break it and he looked nailed on in scoring a confident 49.

But he chipped the ball to cover to give Ravi Jadeja his third wicket and leave himself two further behind Root with the second innings to come. “Jonny is a serious player now and throughout the year he’s been excellent,” added Root. “He’s developing and flourishing as a Test match player.

“Jonny has had his ups and downs. He forced his way back into the side which just shows his determination to succeed at this level.

“He’s had a fine year and his challenge is to back it up into next year.”

England have the makings of a brilliant Test side, but too often in 2016 they have succeeded and failed together.

A little more dovetailing and resilience in the runs department will turn that potential into hard currency.

The way he went up through the gears and put their bowlers under pressure was great