Moeen was then badly dropped on nine by Azhar Ali off the bowling of Mohammad Amir, before making the most of his reprieve by going on to make an excellent 108.
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Pakistan were three for one in reply to England’s first innings 328, a deficit of 325 runs, at stumps on the first day of the fourth Test at The Oval on Thursday.
England’s Moeen Ali said he would have dropped himself earlier this season after his hundred left the team well-placed in the fourth Test against Pakistan.
Not only was he perceived as the weak link, having been sent out to join Azhar late last night, following Sami Aslam’s dismissal by Stuart Broad, he was also the focus of some ire from England’s fielders, following his contentious catch at square leg to dismiss Alex Hales on the first morning.
England is now leading the series by a 2-1 margin, after having won the third Test in Edgbaston by 141 runs.
It is not a role he has always enjoyed. The first one cost them only five runs but the second could potentially hurt them big time. The visitors have added 49 runs till now to their overnight score of 3/1 with Yasir Shah and Azhar Ali at the crease.
Yet Cook and the England management kept faith with Moeen.
“I was really embarrassed after my shot (at Lord’s), and that’s when I decided I needed to bat properly again now”, he said.
Earlier, Riaz had rattled England’s top order after captain Alastair Cook won the toss and opted to bat on a wicket which had extra bounce for the seamers.
“I was sick and exhausted of not scoring that many runs for England”. But they stuck with me and that’s the good thing at the moment, we stick with players and you see the results.
The 29-year-old all-rounder has been a frustrated No8 for the bulk of his 30 Tests and while he missed out on an evening out for the batsmen with the former England captain David Gower on Tuesday – “I changed my number recently and didn’t get the message” – he believes his growing knowledge at worldwide level is starting to pay off.
Either way, both Hales and Nottinghamshire team-mate Broad had exposed themselves to the possibility a fine or even more severe punishment from match referee Richie Richardson, the former West Indies captain.
Thursday’s first day at The Oval was yet another day for Pakistan where a sloppy fielding display proved costly for the visitors.
Meanwhile Jonny Bairstow, who eventually made 55, was caught off a Wahab Riaz no-ball – one of seven in the innings from the recalled left-arm quick – on 13. “Of course we missed opportunities and good teams do not make mistakes like dropping catches”, he told reporters after stumps.
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“But we’ve still got four days to go, and we have to take those things away mentally and focus on our batting”.
