Moeen Ali believes England are never beaten so long as Ben Stokes is at the crease, but warned the rest of the batting lineup they must “come to the party” to keep their Ashes hopes alive.
Just five days after his epic 155 dragged England close to an improbable victory at Lord’s, Stokes returned to the scene of his famous Headingley 2019 triumph and belted a vital 80 to keep the Third Test in the balance.
The captain accelerated after lunch on day two, striking six fours and five sixes as England recovered from 142 for seven to be all out for 237, within 26 runs of Australia’s first-innings score.
Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald admitted at the close of play that despite his side’s strong position, he never felt the match was under control while Stokes remained in the middle and Moeen says the feeling is reflected in the England dressing room.
“He's the one player in the world who everyone will be thinking about that situation, especially against Australia because he has done it a couple of times now,” Moeen said. “Whether it's a white ball or a red ball, as long as he's there you've always got a great chance of winning.
“He's a brilliant player and a great captain, by the way. As long as he's there, we've got a good chance.”
Stokes has single-handedly outscored the rest of England’s specialist batters in each of his last two innings and but for his contribution here, Australia would likely be charging towards an unassailable 3-0 series lead.
As it is, the tourists have a 142-run advantage with six wickets still in hand and England will be hoping to take early wickets on Saturday to set up a chase in which Moeen believes the rest of the home batters must stand up.
“We can’t rely on him all the time,” Moeen added. “We do have the very good players, dangerous players who we just need to come to the party as well as Ben. Ben’s playing brilliantly but there are runs out there for other players.”
Moeen played a crucial role with the ball in the evening session, claiming the wickets of key batters Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith. Both were out to uncharacteristically poor shots and in the process handed the spinner the 199th and 200th wickets of his Test career.
Almost as vital, though, was Moeen’s economy, the Warwickshire man reeling off a 17-over spell that cost just 34 runs and allowed Stokes to rotate his tired seamers from the other end.
"I’ve surprised myself a little bit that I’ve bowled 17 overs on the bounce there,” he admitted. “I’ve really enjoyed it, that’s the main thing, I’ve enjoyed the fields that I’ve been set and the kind of mindset Ben has given me. Very rarely do I go at two-and-over so I’m very pleased with that as well.”
