ENG vs SA: Moeen Ali becomes first cricketer ever with 250 runs and 25 wickets in a four-match Test series

New Delhi: All-rounder Moeen Ali notched up 75 runs and scalped a five-for on the fourth day of the fourth Test match between England and South Africa to hand over the hosts a brilliant 177-run victory at Old Trafford, on Monday. With his brilliance with the bat and with the ball, Ali inked his name well past some of the greatest in the game to become the first ever cricketer to score over 250 runs and take more than 25 wickets in a four-match series.

380 stood as the target for the Proteas side. A long, long walk indeed for the South Africans, who were well aware that the highest ever chased at the venue was 294 runs, back in 2008 and it New Zealand who made it possible.

WATCH: Moeen Ali becomes first Test player to score 250 runs, take 25 wickets in four-match series

19 overs into their second innings and England were three down with just 40 runs on the board. The tourists were in absolute dismay. Skipper Faf du Plessis joined Hashim Amla at the crease. Boundaries rolled in and half-centuries came up from both the bats and the dark clouds seemed to be moving away to make way for the sunlight to sneak in. 123-run partnership stitched by the duo as the Africans bounced back with hope, until Moeen Ali trapped Hashim leg before to send back the right-hander back to the hut.

Ali got another and then another as Faf looked helplessly from the other end and within no time the visitors were wrapped up with just 39 runs contributed by the last seven batsmen. Duanne Olivier was the last to be outfoxed by the spinner, thus claiming his five-wicket haul and England, they sealed the series 3-1.

It was a moment to smile for Joe Root, not because it was his first Test series win since taking on the captaincy role. With English win at Old Trafford, England broke the 19-year-long jinx. It was back in 1998 that the hosts last won a home Test series against the Proteas. "Very proud moment. It's been a fantastic team performance. That's what it takes to win a series like this," said Root.

With Moeen Ali fifer in the second innings and a splendid piece of batting at Old Trafford, the spinner all-rounder became the first cricketer ever to score 250 runs and take 25 wickets in a four-match Test series. The 30-year-old scored 252 runs and bagged exactly 25 wickets in the series.

In a Test series, the feat is quite common. Even his Indian counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin had emulated the same during the England series in 2016. The offie had amassed 306 runs and claimed 28 wickets in that five-match series. The feat was first achieved by Goerge Giffen during the Ashes tour back in 1894-95. And since then, eight such instances have been witnessed, but all came along in a five-match or a six-match series. Ali, ergo stands apart in the history books to be the first person to do so in a four-match series.

Now going on the list of four-match series, Ali stands alongside former Kiwi paceman Richard Hadlee. They are the only two players to score more 250 runs and take 20 wickets in a four-match series. In fact, Ali's 25 wickets from the four matches played are the highest ever in his career, thus rightfully awarded the Man of the Match award.