Moeen Ali: 5 highlights from an enterprising career

#1 77, 2/71 and 15, 3/59 vs Australia in Cardiff

Joe Root scored more runs in the match, Stuart Broad took as many wickets for fewer runs and Alastair Cook was the one who rotated the bowlers to perfection and got the fields right, what stands out in Moeen's performance that would make it the best of his career?

Well, firstly, the context of the match. The Australian side facing England in the opening Ashes encounter had eight of the eleven players who had featured in the whitewash of 2013/14. Except for Josh Hazlewood and Adam Voges, everyone was a seasoned campaigner in international cricket. The task ahead of England was intimidating, and the memories and the scars from Brisbane and Adelaide in 2013, even more so.

In England's first dig, Ali played a counter-attacking gem against the heat of the two Mitchells, despite questions surrounding his effectiveness against the short delivery, and Hazlewood, he did not shy from stepping down the ground against Lyon and never allowed Watson to settle on his nagging lengths. A brisk 77 from 88 balls not only prevented a lower order collapse but also made sure England got a crack at Australia in good time.

He then eked out the prized wickets of Steve Smith, who was in the richest form of his life, and Smith's remarkable is the world's extraordinary, and Australia's best player of spin Michael Clarke by beating them both through a change of line. Had he not gotten them out in middling scores, they might have gone on to take the charge of the match.

In the fourth innings, he notably pinned an on-song David Warner in front of the stumps and thus prevented any chances of a miraculous Australian recovery, giving England the perfect impetus to go on to take a 1-0 lead and later regain the urn.