Moeen Ali stuns cricket world with 'unheard of' one-handed shot

The past decade of cricket has seen players adopt some increasingly unorthodox shots, but few could claim one as unconventional as what Moeen Ali showcased against South Africa on Wednesday. England won the third and final match of their ODI series against the Proteas, but it was the home side who enjoyed a 2-1 series win.

It was a strange game for England, who opened the batting but had only one of their top four batsmen make it to double figures - Dawid Malan, who finished with 118. Wicketkeeper and captain Jos Buttler also smashed a century, with 131 runs from just 127 deliveries.

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Ali also added valuable runs for the tail end, belting a quickfire 41 from 23 balls before being bowled by Lungi Ngidi. His rear-guard action held England amass a very defendable innings of 346/7, with the visitors subsequently bowling South Africa out for 287.

It was Ali's attempt at a one-handed reverse slap shot that proved to be the most memorable moment of the match - as entertaining as it was ineffective. Ali didn't pull the bizarre shot out again after completely whiffing his attempt to smack Tabraiz Shamsi's left-arm wrist spin to the boundary.

The cricket world was well and truly amused by the maverick shot attempt from Ali. However his decision not to try it again proved worthwhile, as he shamed Shamsi back over his head on the very next ball for one of the four sixes he hit in his brief innings.

It didn't stop fans from reacting with amazement and amusement in equal measure on social media. Many said they had never seen a player attempt something so unconventional.

England roll South Africa to snap ODI losing streak

While England's batting, save for Ali, Malan and Buttler, left a bit to be desired, their performance with the ball in hand was the matchwinner. Jofra Archer's career-best figures of 6-40 helped the visitors snap a five-game ODI losing streak as they look ahead to the Cricket World Cup later in 2023.

South Africa won the series 2-1 to keep alive their hopes of automatic qualification for the World Cup in India later this year, though they may still have to win both ODIs against Netherlands in March and April to make sure. Heinrich Klaasen (80 from 62 balls) and opener Reeza Hendricks (52) top-scored, but Archer all but ensured hosts were bowled out for 287.

"It is nice to finish with a win today and bar 10 or 15 overs in the first ODI we've played some brilliant cricket in a hard-fought series," Buttler said at the post-match presentation. "There were some really good strides, guys making hundreds is excellent and Jofra Archer's performance tonight was excellent too. He broke the game open with wicket of Klaasen.

"We've got a strong squad and bar the recent results, we're building nicely."

England were in early strife when a triple early blow from Lungi Ngidi (4-62) had Jason Roy (1), Ben Duckett (0) and Harry Brook (6) back in the pavilion inside the sixth over. After a period of consolidation, however, Buttler and Malan took to the bowling and smashed the home attack to all parts. England struck more sixes (19) in their innings than fours (16) as batsmen opted for power over finesse.

With AAP

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