Moeen Ali hailed as “unbelievable” after emulating England legend Sir Ian Botham in South Africa stuffing
Spinner took FIVE wickets to become the second England cricketer to take 25 wickets and score more than 250 runs in a Test series
MOEEN ALI was hailed as “unbelievable” after stuffing South Africa — and emulating England legend Sir Ian Botham.
Moeen took 5-69 in the Proteas’ second innings at Old Trafford, becoming the first England all-rounder since Beefy to claim 25 wickets and score 250-plus runs in a Test series.
And Moeen, 30, did it in a FOUR-match series compared to the six games it took Botham.
Skipper Joe Root, whose side won the series 3-1, said: “It was great to see Moeen step up and put in some unbelievable performances to win games for us.
“Hopefully it’s not just a one-off series and he can do it again and again.”
Botham became the first Englishman to achieve the unique feat in 1981 against Australia — and then repeated the trick four years later.
Asked about the Botham stat, England’s coach Trevor Bayliss admitted: “Most people were astounded with that. Mo just gets the job done and is a great team man.”
Moeen was described by England as their second spinner coming into this series, behind Liam Dawson, who was dropped.
But Bayliss grinned: “Maybe the psychology is working. There’s no doubt he’s our No 1 spinner and maybe he will become world class.”
England were dismissed for 243 on the fourth day of the Fourth Test, with Moeen not out on 75.
South Africa needed 380 to level the series, but collapsed to 202.
England now move up to third in the ICC Test rankings above Australia.