Joe Root delighted after 'great week' ends in return to winning feeling for England
Moeen Ali was the home side’s hero with a dramatic hat-trick taking the final three wickets in consecutive deliveries to secure a hard-fought but ultimately comfortable 239-run win
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Your support makes all the difference.Joe Root believes his England side have set the standard they must now work to match after seeing off South Africa to take a 2-1 lead in the four-Test series.
Moeen Ali was the hosts' hero with a dramatic hat-trick taking the final three wickets in consecutive deliveries to secure a hard-fought but ultimately comfortable 239-run win in the 100th Oval Test.
The margin and manner of victory in south London are a far cry from Trent Bridge just a fortnight ago where Root watched his team comprehensively outplayed and utterly humbled by the tourists well inside four days and the new captain is proud of how his side have now bounced back.
"What a way to celebrate the 100th Test at this ground,” he said afterwards. “It has been a great week for us - the way we batted in the first innings was so important, we found a really good tempo and it's a good benchmark for us going forward.
"We got stuck in and posted a very good score on a challenging wicket. The way we then bowled first up was exceptional and from there, we always felt we were ahead of the game."
Losing captain Faf du Plessis was obviously not so pleased and pointed to Vernon Philander's absence through illness for much of England's first innings as being key to the outcome of the match.
"It's obvious to say that Vernon Philander missing out for us in that first innings was a huge moment in the game," he said. "The conditions at that time needed someone like him, an expert in challenging the batsmen.
"To allow England 350 in that first innings was probably about 100 too many, but you have to also give credit to the way England played."
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