Moeen Ali capitalises on tiring West Indies bowlers to 'bury' tourists and put England in reach of comeback victory
England targeted a lethargic West Indies attack to claw their way back into the second Test
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Your support makes all the difference.Moeen Ali admitted he aimed to “bury” West Indies’ tiring bowlers and make them suffer during his match-defining half-century that moved England into a winning position in this second Test.
Joe Root’s team, who declared their second innings on 490 for eight to set their opponents 322 to win, need ten wickets on the final day in Leeds to seal an unassailable 2-0 series lead ahead of next week’s final Test at Lord’s.
West Indies, five without loss overnight, still have a chance to chase down that target but they will feel they have let the game slip after allowing England to overturn a first-innings deficit of 169.
Moeen’s 84 was one of five England half-centuries on a dramatic fourth day but the timing of his contribution, hitting 61 from 64 balls after tea to extend his team’s lead from 188 at the interval to 275 by the time he was dismissed, proved decisive.
“We definitely felt like their heads went down after tea pretty quickly,” he said. “We just wanted to keep going and keep burying them and make them suffer in terms of keeping them out in the field because their bowlers were getting tired and they were getting down as a side. We wanted to capitalise on that. We pounced on them.”
Moeen was reprieved on 34 when he was dismissed by Devendra Bishoo off a wrongly-called no-ball shortly after tea.
Replays showed umpire Sundaram Ravi got the decision wrong. And Moeen admitted: “These things happen. People make mistakes. I’ve heard it was very, very tight. But some people say it was a no-ball.”
As for England’s comeback, Moeen denied the hosts were complacent coming into this match despite beating West Indies by an innings and 209 runs in the series opener at Edgbaston.
“We expected them to show some fight,” he said. “Sometimes when you lose the way they did it’s quite embarrassing as a team and it drives you. When teams have that drive they can be very dangerous and we knew that.”
Chris Woakes, who shared a 117-run partnership with Moeen on his way to an unbeaten 61, is confident England can seal victory. “The deficit after the first innings we were very much behind so we’re delighted to have that opportunity to potentially win a Test match,” he said. “If we bowl well and stay patient hopefully we can get the Test win over the line.”
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