Tuesday 24 October 2017 11:40, UK
Moeen Ali's stunning hat-trick secured an impressive win for England over South Africa in the third Test at The Oval - but was it the most memorable ending to an England Test ever?
There are a fair few rivals to that crown, most notably some thrilling finales to Ashes Tests of years gone by; Headingley 1981, Edgbaston 2005, anyone?
But here we've picked five of the more recent thrillers, all shown live on Sky Sports, to rival Moeen's magical moment… Read on and vote below.
Super Monty survives at Cardiff
Competition for those Ashes squeakers in 1981 and 2005, is Monty Panesar and James Anderson's heroic last-wicket stand to save a draw in the first Test of the 2009 Ashes, in Cardiff. Beginning the fifth day already two wickets down in their second innings, and still trailing Australia's first-innings tally by 219 runs, no-one gave England a prayer.
Their plight was made worse by the wickets of Kevin Pietersen and skipper Andrew Strauss within the opening 10 overs of play, but Paul Collingwood's incredible 245-ball vigil for 74 gave England a sniff of a draw - a sniff which seemed to have disappeared with his dismissal 11 overs from the close, and with the home side still trailing by six. But Monty and Anderson somehow contrived to last 69 balls, lift England into a lead, and walk off heroes as a crucial Test was saved on the way to England's eventual 2-1 series win to reclaim the Ashes.
Onions holds out twice in South Africa
Anything Monty can do, I can do better, twice! That might well have been the sentiment from Graham Onions after he saved England's skin later that winter in the first Test of their tour of South Africa, in Centurion, and then repeated the trick in the third, in Cape Town.
In the first instance, England appeared to be comfortably holding on for a draw, thanks to an 81 from Kevin Pietersen and 69, eating up 212 balls, from Jonathan Trott. But Trott's dismissal - with 14 overs left in the day - triggered a mini-collapse of five wickets for 13 runs in 11 overs. Collingwood (26no) was gutsing it out once more at one end and just needed someone to stay with him for the final three overs. Onions did just that, blocking out 12 nail-biting balls.
Onions had to see off one less delivery as he denied South Africa once more later in the series. It was a case of déjà vu for England, who were looking reasonably comfortable at 272-5 with fewer than 14 overs remaining in the Test, but then Collingwood (40 off 188 balls) was the first of four wickets to fall for 18 runs - Ian Bell the last of those, for his 213-ball 78. Once more, Onions was left to battle out the best of three overs and, once more, he delivered.
England skittle Sri Lanka in final session
In one of the more bizarre Test finishes, played out in front of a largely empty Cardiff crowd, England managed to claim a truly incredible win, bowling out Sri Lanka for 82 in just 24.4 overs on the final evening. The 2011 Test had been endlessly disrupted by rain, so the empty seats in the stands on this Monday afternoon were no real surprise, especially as the better part of the first two sessions of the final day were again ruined by bad weather.
When the rain finally relented, England declared with a first-innings lead of 96 but it seemed the main motivation behind their decision was just to get a few more overs in their bowlers' legs rather than harbouring any real hope of victory. Enter Graeme Swann and Chris Tremlett - the pair taking four wickets apiece, for the cost of 16 and 40 runs respectively, to run through the Sri Lankan order before Stuart Broad blasted out the tail to earn a memorable win in the dying overs of the day.
Trent Bridge Test won on review
A thrilling Test match for more than just the finish, with Ashton Agar hitting the highest-ever score by a No 11, and on debut, smashing a first-innings 98 for Australia, while there was also that Broad edge that was never given that resulted in him being public enemy No 1 among Aussie journalists and fans alike for the disastrous 5-0 Ashes drubbing on the return tour that winter.
But, in the first Test of the 2013 Ashes series at Trent Bridge, England's thrilling 14-run victory - their first of three to claim the series - evoked memories of the drama at Edgbaston eight years earlier. Set 311 to win, Australia were in a seemingly perilous position at 174-6 going into the final day, but once again some determined batting by the tail, and Brad Haddin (74), saw them inch their way ever closer to the target.
But, just as it seemed they'd pull off the impossible, manage what Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz couldn't quite, Anderson struck for England, getting Haddin out edging behind. The nick initially went undetected, however, and so a stunning win was secured in similar fashion to Moeen's hat-trick at The Oval, via a review.
Anderson left broken at Headingley
Anderson and Moeen were pulling off some further heroics back in 2014, though this time with the bat as England looked to save the second Test against Sri Lanka, at Headingley. Moeen hit an unbeaten 108 off 281 balls, while last-man-in Anderson survived 55 excruciating deliveries as the pair denied Sri Lanka for the final 20 overs of the day, until….
With the penultimate delivery of the Test, Shaminda Eranga dug in a short ball to Anderson, who could only fend off a simple catch to backward square before dropping to his knees, visibly crestfallen and emotional.
