Moeen Ali's ton drive England forward in Chennai Test

Chennai [India], Dec. 16 (ANI): Moeen Ali's impressive run with the bat continued as he scored yet another century to put England in the drivers' seat on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test against India here at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday. At Stumps on Day 1, the visitors find themselves in a comfortable position at 284-4, with Ali and Ben Stokes at the crease on 120 and 5 respectively. Winning the toss and electing to bat, England did not have the greatest of starts as they lost Keaton Jennings (1) at the score of 7 off the bowling of returning Ishant Sharma. Alastair Cook (10), who reached the 11, 000 run-mark in Test cricket, again fell prey to Ravichandran Jadeja for the fifth time in the series. England were in a sticky situation at the time having already lost both their openers for 21 runs. However, Joe Root (88) and Ali steered away the England innings and took them 68-2 at the stroke of lunch. Ali, who has often been instrumental in the rebuilding process, first shared with a 146-run partnership with Joe Root and then a 86-run partnership with Jonny Bairstow. Root, who also played stupendously, was dismissed by Jadeja just 12 short of his century. However, the left-hander stuck on and managed to anchor the innings along with Bairstow, who departed on 49, becoming Jadeja's third wicket of the day. Today's century was Ali's second of the series. The first came in the first Test at Rajkot. The visitors are looking to salvage some pride in the ongoing Test having already lost the series 3-0 following crushing defeats in Visakhapatnam, Mohali and Mumbai. India, the current World No. 1, on the other hand are looking to extend their unbeaten streak to 18 Test matches, thus making a new record in the history of the team in the longest format. (ANI)