London [UK], July 8 : England all-rounder Moeen Ali lauded skipper Ben Stokes for his marvellous knock against Australia in the first innings of the third Ashes Test at Headingley saying Stokes thrives in difficult situations, but also cautioned that his side cannot keep relying on him all the time, especially when it has other good players as well.
Sublime bowling display from Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes provided England with the upper hand over Australia as the visitors finished on 116/4 in response to hosts 237, taking a 142 runs lead during the Day 2 of the ongoing third Ashes Test here at Headingley on Friday.
"He (Stokes) is the one player in the world that everybody will be thinking (can do it) in that situation, especially against Australia because he has done it a couple of times now. White ball, red ball, whatever it is, as long as he is there you have got a great chance of winning," said Moeen as quoted by cricket.com.au.
"He loves those situations and thrives off them. But we cannot rely on it all the time. It is important because we have other good players too," he concluded his point.
Moeen recalled that while he was batting with Ben, the latter's hip was a bit sore.
"I think there is a lot more than he is showing (on Stokes fitness)... his body has been through a lot, but one thing with Ben is he can do anything without being one hundred per cent. I think it is the situations more than anything," he added.
On his team's chances in the match, Moeen said, "They are obviously a brilliant bowling attack and we are going to have to play well to win this game."
At the time of stumps, Australia's score read 116/4 with Mitchell Marsh (17) and Travis Head (18) unbeaten at the crease. The guests took a first-innings lead of 26 runs after bowling out England for 237 on Friday.
England was in huge trouble in their first innings and was at 87/5 at one point. Another Headingley masterclass from Stokes (80 in 108 balls with six fours and five sixes) and important knocks from Moeen Ali (21) and Mark Wood (24 in eight balls, with one four and three sixes) took England to 237.
Pat Cummins, the skipper was the best bowler for Aussies, taking 6/91. Mitchell Starc took two wickets. Mitchell Marsh and Todd Murphy got one each.
England put Australia to bat first and the visitors were bundled out for 263 runs in 60.4 overs. Australia slipped to 85/4, but with a 155-run stand for the fifth wicket between Mitchell Marsh (118 in 118 balls, 17 fours and four sixes) and Travis Head (39 in 74 balls), the Aussies were back on track. But after the dismissal of these two batters, Australia experienced another collapse and was bundled out for 263 runs.
Wood (5/34) was the pick of the bowlers for England. Chris Woakes (3/73) and Stuart Broad (2/58) also bowled really well.
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