Moeen Ali created history by taking a hat-trick to help Joe Root’s side to achieve a 239-run win over South Africa at The Oval and take a 2-1 lead in the four match series. Moeen, who had taken the wicket of Chris Morris, started his 15th over and he struck on the fifth ball when Dean Elgar, who had defied England by notching up his eighth century, drove a flighted delivery outside off to first slip where Ben Stokes took the catch. He followed up with a wicket immediately the next ball as Kagiso Rabada edged a full and flat ball again to Stokes at slip.
The hat-trick was achieved in dramatic circumstances. Moeen pushed a quicker delivery on middle and leg stump and Morne Morkel played down the wrong line. The batsman was hit on the front pad and England appealed but the umpire Joel Wilson did not give it out. England reviewed and replays showed that the ball was hitting leg stump and the decision was overturned to give Moeen Ali the hat-trick.
This was the first hat-trick ever achieved at The Oval, the venue that was hosting it’s 100th Test match. Moeen became the 13th England bowler to take a hat-trick in Tests. Stuart Broad holds the distinction of taking a hat-trick twice in Tests. Moeen became the first England spinner since 1939 to have taken a hat-trick. Tom Goddard achieved this feat in 1938 in the Test match against South Africa in Johannesburg. The 30-year-old is only the third England spinner to have taken a hat-trick in Tests, the others being Willie Bates and Johnny Briggs. This is only the sixth instance of an England bowler taking a hat-trick on English soil, with Jack Hearne having taken the first hat-trick at Leeds in 1899 against Australia.
It took England a little under two and a half hours to take the six wickets they required on a bright, sunny final day. After dragging themselves back into contention with a fine performance at Trent Bridge, South Africa will have to do the same in the fourth and final Test at Old Trafford beginning on Friday (August 4) if they are to avoid a first series defeat in England since 1998. The home side, heavily criticised after their showing in Nottingham, now lead the series 2-1.
Brief scores: England 353 (Ben Stokes 112, Alastair Cook 88; Morne Morkel 3-70, Kagiso Rabada 3-85) & 313/8 decl. (Jonny Bairstow 63, Tom Westley 59; Keshav Maharaj 3-50) beat South Africa 175 (Temba Bavuma 52; Toby Roland-Jones 5-57, James Anderson 3-25) & 252 (Dean Elgar 136; Moeen Ali 4-45, Toby Roland-Jones 3-72) by 239 runs.
