Moeen Ali hit 77 and then took two wickets to put England in a good position against Australia going into day three of the first Ashes test in Cardiff.
Ali helps set good total
The Worcestershire batsman reached his half century early in the morning session as he and Stuart Broad put on 52 for the eighth wicket. Ali hit 11 fours and one six on his way to 77 as the hosts reached 430 all out. Starting the day on 343-7, England would've been delighted to reach 400 on a pitch not offering a lot for bowlers.
Ali was eventually dismissed when he chased a wide one of Mitchell Starc and edged to Shane Watson in the slips.
Starc was the pick of the Australian bowlers with 5-114. The left-arm fast bowler bowled with good swing but as with Mitchell Johnson, the batsmen found runs easy to come by off the fast bowlers.
Johnson didn’t make in an impact, finishing with figures of 0-111 off his 25 overs. Josh Hazlewood finished with 3-83 and Nathan Lyon picked up 2-69.
Tourists started well with the bat
Openers Chris Rogers and David Warner got the innings off to a steady start, putting 52 runs on the board for the first wicket.
James Anderson broke the partnership with an out-swinger that caught the edge of Warner’s bat and was well held by captain Alastair Cook who took a sharp catch at first slip.
In-form batsman Steve Smith was the next in and looked very comfortable as he and Rogers aimed to get their side in to a good position. Smith got to 33 before he tried to come down the wicket and hit Ali over the top. Ali saw Smith’s intentions early and bowled it on the leg-side, which Smith tried to adapt to but could only chip it to Cook who took a simple catch.
Rogers falls just short of century
Rogers was never in any trouble during his innings, but felt the nerves once in the nineties. Mark Wood took advantage and claimed the important wicket of Rogers for 95, edging behind to Jos Buttler. Rogers tried to cut the ball but it was too close to him and fell just five runs short of what would’ve been a well-deserved victory.
With the score on 207-3, Australia would’ve hoped to post a dominating score, but captain Michael Clarke hit an Ali delivery straight back for a well taken catch. Clarke was going well on 38 but it was Ali once again to be centre of attention and continue to influence the game, this time with the ball.
Adam Voges and Watson looked set to see out the day for the tourists, but late on in the evening session, Voges drilled a Ben Stokes delivery straight to Anderson at short cover with the score on 258.
Lyon came in as night-watchman and helped Watson to the end of play with no further loss. It could’ve been much worse for Australia when the English bowlers found the edge of Lyon’s bat on more than one occasion, but the lack of pace in the pitch meant it didn’t carry to the slips. Australia will begin day three on 264-5.