Moeen Ali revels in finest performance of his England career after 10-wicket haul

Moeen Ali admitted his ten-wicket haul at Lord’s was the finest performance of his Test career after the all-rounder inspired England to a landslide 211—run win against South Africa in Joe Root’s first match as captain.

England will head into Friday’s second Test at Trent Bridge with a 1-0 lead in the four-match series after Moeen’s second-innings six for 53 helped wrap up victory inside four days as South Africa were routed for 119 chasing 331.

Moeen’s match return of 10 for 112 was the best by an England spinner at Lord’s since 1951 and enabled the hosts to secure their first victory against these opponents here since 1960.

The 30-year-old, who also struck 87 with the bat during his man-of-the-match display, said: “It was the best all round performance of my career.

“It was a great wicket and I was trying to attack the batters as much as possible and it worked out well. It is almost like a fresh start for me with a new captain.”

Root hailed Moeen, saying: “He’s at his best when he’s attacking in his style. He gets great shape on the ball, puts a lot of revs on it and makes it very difficult for batsmen.

“Whenever you can get a spinner beating both sides of the bat it’s very difficult to face. Moeen was outstanding.”

This was England’s first win in seven Tests and Root, who has got off to the perfect start in his first match since taking over the captaincy from Alastair Cook, said: “It’s a great start and the whole team were fabulous throughout. Everything that was thrown at them and asked of them they responded extremely well and it’s great to be 1-0 up going into Trent Bridge.

“Everyone’s played their part - people did stand up at certain times. It might not have been a six-fer or a hundred, but there were some crucial periods where guys stood up and affected the game in a proactive manner.”

England have named an unchanged 12-man squad for the second Test at Trent Bridge. Root, though, offered words of caution when asked if his team were now aiming for a 4-0 series whitewash.

“I think it’s important we don’t look too far ahead,” he said. “They’re a great side and we need to concentrate on preparing for Trent Bridge. But we should take a lot of confidence from this and hopefully gather the momentum going into back-to-back games.”