Saturday, August 6th, 2016

Moeen Lifts Man Of Match Award As England Triumph At Edgbaston

Moeen Lifts Man Of Match Award As England Triumph At Edgbaston

Moeen Ali lifted the man of the match award as England defeated Pakistan by 141 runs in the third Investec Test with Pakistan at Edgbaston.

The Worcestershire all-rounder finished unbeaten on 86 as England set Pakistan a 343 target from 84 overs on the final day.

Then he claimed two wickets – including last man Sohail Khan – as Pakistan were dismissed for 201.

Moeen hit Yasir Shah for two sixes in the opening over of the day as England batted on for a further four overs after resuming on 414-5.

The 29-year-old also struck 10 fours and faced only 96 balls before the declaration at 445-6.

It was Moeen's second half century of the game from the number seven position and his Test batting average has now risen above 32.

The only wicket to fall today before the declaration was Jonny Bairstow for 83.

It was yesterday evening's aggressive batting between Moeen and Bairstow which enabled skipper Alastair Cook to be in a position to declare.

They plundered an unbroken 132 from just 27.2 overs after tea through to the close.

The partnership was in contrast to the steady tempo during the first two sessions when Cook, Alex Hales and Joe Root all scored half-centuries.

Moeen came to the wicket at 282-5 in the 98th over with the England lead only 179.

But he and Bairstow bristled with positive intent, looking to turn ones into twos and twos into threes with aggressive running to transform the whole outlook of the game.

When Pakistan batted for a second time, Moeen broke a second wicket stand of 73 between Sami Aslam (70) and Azhar Ali (38) by dismissing the latter.

Then he sealed England's win after a last wicket partnership of 50 between Rahat Ali (15 not out) and Sohail Khan (38).

Moeen held onto a return catch from Sohail and ended with figures of 2-49 from 17.5 overs.