Moeen Ali achieves the double, England on top vs South Africa in Lord’s Test

Moeen Ali became the fifth-quickest player in terms of matches played to do the Test ‘double’ of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets as South Africa ended day 2 on 214/5, still trailing England by 244 runs.

Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad’s two wickets, combined with Joe Root’s brilliant 190 put England in the driver’s seat after the end of day 2 of the first Test against South Africa in Lord’s on Friday. Following Root’s magnificent knock, Moeen and Broad picked up two wickets as South Africa ended the day on 214/5, still trailing the hosts by 244 runs.

Moeen Ali became the fifth-quickest player in terms of matches played to do the Test ‘double’ of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets as England dominated the Lord’s Test against South Africa.(AFP)

During the course of the day, Moeen became the fifth-quickest player in terms of matches played to do the Test ‘double’ of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets when he completed the feat against South Africa at Lord’s on Friday.

Worcestershire’s Moeen, started the second day of the first Test with 1988 runs and 98 wickets at this level. The left-handed batsman took care of the first part of the ‘double’ by extending his overnight 61 not out into a dashing 87 in England’s first innings 458.

Primarily a batsman, until England deployed him as more of an off-spinner, the 30-year-old Ali has often been criticised for not being a ‘front-rank’ bowler. Yet on Friday he produced a sharply turning off-break to have star batsman Hashim Amla lbw for 29.

Moeen then removed South Africa captain Dean Elgar, who had been holding the innings together, for 54 when the opener was caught off bat and pad by Gary Ballance at short leg. Elgar’s exit left the Proteas in trouble at 98 for three. It also meant Moeen had done the ‘double’ in his 38th Test, with only the late Tony Greig, who took 37 matches, achieving the feat in fewer fixtures for England.

When Broad trapped JP Duminy LBW for 15, it seemed that the Proteas might not avoid the follow-on. However, Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma shared a 96-run stand to revive the Proteas. However, Anderson struck in the fag end of the day as he removed de Bruyn for 48.

On day 3, South Africa’s hopes will rest on Bavuma and Quinton de Kock as they look to wipe out the huge deficit.