After the end of England’s innings yesterday, there was still time before stumps for the hosts to remove opener Sami Aslam, leg-before to Stuart Broad and leave Pakistan in trouble at three for one at the day’s end.
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England’s spinning all-rounder followed up his heroics at Edgbaston, where he twice yanked them to safety when Pakistani flames threatened to engulf them, with a superb century.
Joe Root moved fluently to 26 before he nicked a fired-up Wahab Riaz to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and the left-armer produced another venomous delivery to account for James Vince (one) in similar fashion.
Fast bowler Sohail Khan (5-68) claimed his second successive five-wicket haul, but Moeen’s 108 with 13 fours and two sixes rescued England after Wahab Riaz’s 3-93 had reduced the home team to 110-5 at the Oval.
Perhaps we should have taken more notice of the shape of that Test, one in which the momentum was very much with Pakistan until England’s second innings turned a deficit of over 100 runs into a lead of 342. Ali reached yet another hundred.
No. 11 James Anderson hung in as Moeen reached his hundred with a six over midwicket off leg-spinner Shah before eventually falling to Sohail while going for an expansive hook shot.
“It’s the second time I’ve been hit on the helmet first ball”, Ali told Sky Sports. ‘Mitchell Johnson did it to me previous year.
“I feel I have made an impact with the bat and I hope I can do the same with the ball”, added Ali, who earlier in the series worked with Saqlain Mushtaq after the former Pakistan off-spinner was brought in by England as a temporary coaching consultant.
“But I stayed calm”.
“I really enjoyed batting with Jonny, he gets me going”.
Moeen took most telling advantage, completing his 140-ball hundred with a courageous strike off Yasir Shah over the man on the midwicket boundary for his second six to add to 12 fours.
Ali was last man out when his hook off Sohail was caught in the deep Shah.
Cook initially won the toss and, although tempted to bowl with the pitch looking a little green, elected to bat first.
England were 23 for one and that became 69 for two when Cook, who added just two runs to his score following his earlier let-off, played Sohail Khan onto his own stumps. That was the start of a slump that saw three wickets lost for five runs in 15 balls. The left-handed batsman, however, has been able to turn things around by making useful contributions in the ongoing Test series against Pakistan.
An over later, Riaz had James Vince (1) feather an edge to the keeper, reducing England to 74 for four.
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If Azhar Ali does not kick himself for the first Mohammad Amir, who has seen five go down in the slips off his bowling this summer, will surely oblige. Azhar should have held the first chance in the slips, off Amir. On Day Two, Azhar Ali and Yasir Shah, the overnight batsmen will seek to continue in a positive manner.
