Moeen Ali castled by a ripper from Mitchell Starc (Twitter Image)
Moeen Ali was cleaned up with an absolute jaffa from Mitchell Starc as the Australian picked up a fifer in the third Test of Ashes 2023
England decided to promote Moeen Ali up in the batting order during the second innings of the third Ashes Test. The move, however, did not pay off as Moeen could only manage to score five runs off 15 balls on day five of the Test. Australia speedster Mitchell Starc sent Moeen back to the dressing room having bowled an unplayable delivery in the 14th over of the second innings at Headingley.
On the penultimate ball of the over, Starc produced a fairly straight delivery at 90mph. Moeen tried to play a drive but with hardly any footwork the southpaw ended up producing a slight inside edge. The ball, eventually, dismantled the leg stump sending Moeen back to the dressing room.
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Moeen Ali had made a return to Test cricket in the Ashes series in England after a two-year absence from the scene. The English star was brought into the squad as a replacement for Jack Leach who is currently recovering from a stress fracture in his back.
But Moeen failed to make any significant impact scoring a combined 37 runs in the first Ashes Test. He was dropped from the England playing XI in the second Test match at Lord’s. His underwhelming batting performance continued as he scored 25 runs and five runs across the two innings in the Lord’s Test.
Chasing a target of 251, England lost their first three wickets scoring just 93 runs. Despite the early mishap, the hosts managed to recover and win the match by three wickets.
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It was Harry Brook who saved England’s ship scoring a brilliant 75 in 93 balls, hitting nine boundaries during his power-packed knock. Chris Woakes’ 32 runs in 47 balls and Mark Wood scoring 16 in eight deliveries helped England cross the finish line, winning the game by three wickets.
Ashes will continue with the fourth Test at Old Trafford starting on July 19. Australia’s victory shall seal their Ashes campaign glory in England. The Ben Stokes-led side, on the other hand, shall be seeking to become only the second side in history to win this historic series after being 2-0 down. The first and only victory was inspired by Sir Don Bradman’s Australian side.
