Moeen Ali: I owed England runs

Moeen Ali made an unbeaten 155 as England declared on 498-9 before it ripped through the tourist, which was 91-8 at stumps on Saturday.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali after scoring a century.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali felt he "owed" his team runs after he starred in the second Test against Sri Lanka.

Ali made an unbeaten 155 as England declared on 498-9 before it ripped through the tourist, which was 91-8 at stumps on Saturday. The 28-year-old said he felt a responsibility to produce with the bat, having been promoted to number seven because of an injury to Ben Stokes.

"It is about time really and I feel like I owed the team some runs and to do it today was a great feeling," Ali told Sky Sports. "I have actually been feeling all right, but I just had not really spent the time in the middle."

Ali added: "I am going to have to get some scores if I want to go up the order. I have been pretty average with the bat to be honest with you, but hopefully I can keep batting well."

Ali blasted 17 fours and two sixes in his 207-ball innings as England took control of the Test.

He said keeping his game simple was the key, telling the ECB: "I was pretty calm, to be honest with you, when I was batting. I just backed my instincts a bit – see ball and hit ball and I enjoy that the most about my batting when I'm playing like that. It was nice."

Chris Woakes (3-9) and Stuart Broad (3-35) starred with the ball, leaving Sri Lanka with work to do.