Wednesday, December 14th, 2016

Moeen Looking For Strong Finish To Indian Test Series

Moeen Looking For Strong Finish To Indian Test Series

Moeen Ali will be striving for a strong finish to an up and down series with bat and ball against India when the fifth Test gets underway in Chennai on Friday.

The Worcestershire all-rounder has scored 191 runs at an average of 27.28 after being elevated up the order and taken nine wickets at 51 runs apiece from the first four Tests.

Moeen struck 117 in the opening Test in Rajkot and then a half century in the fourth game in Mumbai.

But in between the 29-year-old has accumulated 24 runs in his other five innings.

His overall Test record is now 1,737 runs at an average of 32.77 with four hundreds and nine fifties from his 36 Tests.

On the bowling front Moeen is England's second highest wicket-taker in the series behind Adil Rashid (22) but it has been a challenging series for England's spinners.

His best return was 3-98 in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

Moeen requires three more wickets to chalk up a century of Test victims and his 97 so far have cost 40.70 runs apiece.

England will be aiming to end on a high after trailing 3-0 in the series.

Moeen has already been selected for the white ball cricket when England return to India early in the New Year.