Moeen Ali scored an unbeaten 120 and Joe Root made 88 as England finished day one of the final test 284-4 and in the driving seat to pick up their first victory of the tour.
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| Moeen Ali led England during the first day of the fifth test. Credit - The Telegraph |
The pair added 146 for the 3rd wicket and when Root fell, caught behind on review, Johnny Bairstow (49) partnered Ali to add another 86 until he was caught at short cover. It was then up to Ben Stokes to support Moeen in getting through till close of play.
After Alistair Cook won his fourth toss of the series, his side slipped to 21-2 after Keaton Jennings edged a wild drive off Ishant Sharma and Cook steered a ball from Ravindra Jadeja to slip. But the class of Root and survival instincts of Moeen took England to lunch unscathed further.
But if the first session went to India, the afternoon and evening were definitely the tourists'. Scoring at 3.54 an over, Root and Ali took the game to India and after Root fell, Bairstow continued the assault with three sixes over mid-on and midwicket.
Ravi Ashwin went the day wicketless, despite tormenting Moeen in the morning session whilst Jadeja took 3-73 in a good day of test cricket for England, one of very few on this tour of the subcontinent.
With Ali set, and capable batsmen to come, the tourists must be aiming for at least 400 before going on the bat their host's out of the game to try and salvage something from this test series.
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