One began to wonder whether Moeen Ali and Kumar Dharmasena had fallen out in the recent past. Every time Shakib Al Hasan appealed for lbw the umpire raised his finger, whereupon Moeen called for a review. Then Dharmasena had to do what must haunt the modern umpire: put his hands across his chest to signal that he was changing his decision. And this happened three times in the space of six balls.
In fact Dharmasena, much respected on the circuit, had memorably offered some bowling advice to Moeen in the nets at Lord’s back in 2014, which had a most positive effect on his off-breaks. At the close of play here Moeen confirmed with a twinkle in his eye: “We are normally pretty tight but we didn’t speak for a session. It was a tough pitch to umpire but what can I say? The guy gave me out three times.”
Apparently this was a record. Until Moeen’s experience on Thursday no Test batsman has ever been given out three times and then reprieved. It cannot be good for the nerves but the batsman was phlegmatic enough afterwards, when he reckoned that England were in a decent position at 258 for seven.
“I knew I had hit the first one or gloved it – there was definitely something there. [Joe] Root saved me from the other two,” he added, by which he meant that his partner had urged him to review. “The way I was set up,” Moeen said, “I was trying to bat on off stump so that there was less chance of lbws.” Obviously not, in Dharmasena’s eyes.
Moeen, usually the most felicitous of players, was not at his most handsome. “Today was the hardest 60 I’ve ever made,” he said. “They were dirty runs. It was a massive mental challenge, especially with the reviews. I kept missing the ball and it hit my pad and I couldn’t figure out why.”
Well, the ball was turning and as Moeen acknowledged: “They bowled really well and were very accurate and I think that will be the key for us as well. We have [Gareth] Batty, myself and Rash [Adil Rashid] who hopefully can bowl these guys out. There’s a lot of pressure on us to deliver and we are going to have to get used to that this winter. I made my mistakes in the UAE [last winter] and hopefully I won’t make them again.”
Mehedi Hasan, the 18-year-old off-spinner, showed the way on his debut with five for 64 from 33 overs. In turn Mehedi revealed how he simply followed the advice of his club captain at Khulna Division, Abdur Razzak. “He said to bowl at one spot for 30-35 overs, no need for variations, and that batsmen will have a hard time with my bowling if I’m accurate”.
Mehedi will remember those five dismissals for a long time. “I loved all my wickets,” he said, “but the fifth one [Jonny Bairstow] was special. It went straight. Neither I nor the batsman understood what was happening.”
