Last Update on: July 20th, 2023 at 06:56 pm
England all-rounder Moeen Ali joined an elite list of cricketers as he became the 16th cricketer overall to do the double of 3000 runs and 200-plus wickets in Test cricket. He added himself to the list during his unbeaten knock on day 2 in Manchester.
Ali also became the fourth cricketer from England to score 3000 Test runs and take 200-plus wickets. His England teammate Stuart Broad was the last cricketer from the country to achieve that feat.
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Ali now with Broad, Andrew Flintoff and Sir Ian Botham are the only four England cricketers with over 3000 Test runs and 200 Test wickets. The England all-rounder replaced Jack Leach after he was ruled out from the ongoing Ashes series with a stress fracture.
Moeen Ali Joins Elite List
3000-Plus Runs And 200-Plus Test Wickets For England:
Ian Botham 5200 runs, 383 wickets
Andrew Flintoff 3845 runs & 226 wickets
Stuart Broad 3640 runs & 600 wickets
Mooen Ali 3008 runs & 201 wickets
The England off-spinner played the first Test and then was dropped from the Lord’s Test with an injured index finger on his bowling arm. He made a return to the playing XI in the third Test in Headingley and took two wickets in the game and played his part in his team’s victory.
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Moeen took the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne in the first innings in Manchester to give England a crucial breakthrough. He bowled a total of 17 overs in the first innings.
England are trailing 2-1 in the series and need to win the ongoing Test to keep the Ashes series alive. The hosts have not won an Ashes Test in Manchester in 42 years.
If England win the Ashes series, they will become only the second side to win the Ashes after being 2-0 down. Australia under Don Bradman became the first team to win an Ashes series with a 2-0 deficit in 1936/37.
When asked if this was the greatest Ashes series he is a part of Ben Stokes replied saying “If we win this one then going into the last game at 2-2, it would be hard not to say this is the best men’s Ashes series in a long time, if not the best,” Stokes said before the Test match began.
