Moeen Ali, a free spirit playing with such impressive self-denial that it must have surprised even him, secured a maiden Test fifty as he led a valiant effort by England to put the embarrassment of the previous day behind them and save the Headingley Test against all expectations.
When tea arrived on the final day, Sri Lanka were still three wickets away from their first series win in England but by chipping out Joe Root and Matt Prior, the latter by the narrowest margin, ensured that the outcome of the Test remained heavily tipped in their favour. The new ball was three overs away, although with a light blanket of cloud over Leeds, Sri Lanka’s nerves would be taut.
Moeen’s nerviest moment came before tea when Sri Lanka hollered in triumph as a delivery from Rangana Herath found its way to leg slip. The umpire, Steve Davis, refused the appeal and Sri Lanka’s review – understandable in the circumstances – failed on the grounds both of caught and lbw.
On another occasion, he had an inadvisable flirt when Herath slanted a low-arm delivery across him, but generally he curbed his attacking instincts with great resolve, only occasionally allowing himself to sweep or come down the pitch to Herath, choices he made with impeccable judgement.
There are times when the wider social impact of a performance in sport is so apparent that it must also be recognised even in a match report – and this was one of them. A sole spectator earlier in the Test who observed, however unthinkingly, that Moeen’s beard suggested he should be blowing up buildings was rightly reported to stewards and warned. With every stout-hearted block, Moeen made such comments appear ever more ridiculous and, for those who doubted as much, integrated himself, beard included, ever deeper into the fabric of the England side.
The Headingley spectators who shouted their approval at tea would only be disappointed that Root was not walking off alongside him. Root clearly relished the chance to produce an innings of Boycottian bloody-mindedness in front of a Yorkshire crowd (not a very big one if truth were told); strokelessness is no hardship for him when the match dictates it.
Not shy of a word or two himself – the innocent countenance is misleading – he became the victim of prolonged sledging from the Sri Lanka captain, Angelo Mathews, who was instructed to curb his behaviour more than once by both umpires, and whose victory celebrations – if victory celebrations they turn out to be – look bound to be interrupted by an audience with the match referee.
If Mathews was in danger of getting sidetracked, it did not show in his captaincy, which remained well judged. Sri Lanka’s bowlers, by and large, remained disciplined. Shaminda Eranga adopted a short-ball policy in mid-afternoon, but it seemed a legitimate tactic at the time and unsettled Root on several occasions. Herath found reluctant turn as he wheeled away with his usual accuracy, his pace falling to 45mph on occasions, remarkably slow for a professional spin bowler in the modern game.
Prior became a fifth victim for Sri Lanka’s fourth-day hero, Dhammika Prasad, a well-directed ball into his body and a deflection which was expertly snapped up by Kaushal Silva low down at short leg – not the first time he has fallen in such a fashion.
It was Prasad’s effort ball and it almost resulted in his first no-ball of the match – the TV umpire requiring innumerable replays before concluding, fairly enough, that he got a sliver of boot behind a wonky front line. The match referee, Andy Pycroft, was quick to advise that if there was any uncertainty – and there was uncertainty – the decision should rest with the bowler as there was not definite proof he had overstepped.
Sri Lanka endured a morning of frustration as determined resistance by England’s sixth-wicket pair, Root and Moeen, was followed by drizzle and an early lunch. A night’s sleep seemed to have cleared England heads after their atrocious fourth-day display had left them 57 for 5, well adrift of a target of 350.
England made only 26 in nearly 18 overs in front of a smattering of spectators as Root contentedly committed himself to a morning’s deadbatting and Moeen sought to steel himself to a defensive game that is more alien to him. Root’s brief enthusiasm for an impossible single, refused by Moeen and causing him to dive back into his ground, was not a promising sight for England, nor particularly were Moeen’s first two boundaries off Prasad, which whistled through point and gully off an open face, but soon both settled.
Sri Lanka’s recovery had been admirable – England had been 311 for 3 in their first innings at one stage, ahead by 54 – but they must have feared a final, cruel twist as the Headingley pitch played relatively calmly and rain began to rob time from the game. The rain stayed away throughout the afternoon but nobody could be certain whether it would stay away forever.
Moeen looks attractive as most left-handed batsmen appear. Excellent temperament with the ONLY distraction being the beard. BUT then so did WG Grace have a beard.
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