Moeen Ali enters history books with hattrick against South Africa

Moeen Ali became the first England bowler to take a hattrick on home soil as the hosts defeated South Africa by 239 runs in the third Test.

Moeen Ali ‘s historic hattrick in the 100th Test at The Oval helped England to a 239-run victory against South Africa on the final day of the third Test and he achieved several records in the process.

England's Moeen Ali celebrates the wicket of South Africa's Morne Morkel in the third Test match at The Oval. (Action Images via Reuters)

Moeen Ali, who finished the match with figures of 4/45, took the wickets of Dean Elgar, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel to complete his first hattrick at any level.

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The hattrick was also quite significant from a statistical standpoint as it was the first time that an England spinner achieved that feat in a home Test. The other three England spinners who have hat-tricks to their name (Billy Bates, Johnny Briggs and Tom Goddard) have taken them on foreign soil.

Moeen Ali also became the first England spinner since 1938 to have taken a hattrick. Tom Goddard achieved this feat in the Test match against South Africa in Johannesburg.

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When asked about his achievement, Ali said, “I’ve never taken a hat-trick in any sort of cricket. I’ve scored a few hat-tricks in football warm-ups, but this is a different sort of feeling ... a better feeling.”

Moeen Ali’s hattrick was the first one by any bowler against South Africa since 1957 when Australian Chinaman bowler Lindsay Kline achieved the feat in Johannesburg. It was also the fourth time a Test had been concluded with a hattrick with the previous instances coming in South Africa vs England (1895-96), Australia vs England (1901-02) and South Africa vs Australia (1957-58).