Watch: Moeen Ali continues his hold over Virat Kohli with record-breaking dismissal

On Sep 5, 2021

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Watch: Moeen Ali produced a lovely piece of bowling to dismiss Virat Kohli for 44 on the fourth morning of the fourth England-India Test at The Oval, a wicket significant both statistically and for the hosts’ chances.

The India skipper had continued his burgeoning form, looking set for this third half-century in three innings after seeing off the second new ball, unfurling some of his trademark drives and looking increasingly assured.

However, while James Anderson’s rivalry with Kohli is the one that draws the headlines, there is another member of the England team who can count the all-format great as one of his favoured opponents: Moeen, who has now dismissed Kohli 10 times across formats.

This time, it was a piece of subtle in-drift that did for Kohli, the touring captain edging to first slip. Six of those 10 dismissals have come in Test cricket – only Anderson and Nathan Lyon have got Kohli out more in the longest format – while across formats, Moeen is level with Anderson and Tim Southee for most dismissals of Kohli, with Moeen top among spin bowlers.

The wicket also took Moeen into third place on the list of most Test wickets by an England spinner, ahead of Jim Laker, and behind only Graeme Swann and Derek Underwood. Considering he also has five Test hundreds to his name, it’s been some career, and it’s far from done yet.