Moeen and The Oval walk into history

After an unremarkable morning, Moeen Ali bounced up to the crease as the third English bowler to be on a hat-trick in South Africa’s second innings of the third test. 

Moeen will no doubt appreciate his place in history but on Monday it was all about the here and now, a performance that confirmed his rapid progress in this series. 

In easy batting conditions and visible patches of rough to exploit, the 30-year-old off-spinner was always likely to be asked to play the lead role on the final day. He delivered a telling blow with the last ball before lunch, from which Chris Morris was caught by Ben Stokes at slip, and followed up in the 12th over after the interval by having Dean Elgar and Kagiso Rabada also snaffled by the Durham man before the coup de grace dismissal of Morkel. 

Moeen still has a way to go before surpassing Derek Underwood’s 297 victims but England’s history man will do well to top his Oval performance. 

Three balls, three wickets, one never to be forgotten moment.