Watch: In a sparkling late assault, Moeen Ali raced to 43 off 17 balls and looked set to break the record for the fastest Test fifty before he became India’s final wicket in their 317-run win in the second Chennai Test.

Moeen, batting at No.9, walked in after the dismissal of Ben Foakes, and hit five sixes and three fours in his 18-ball effort, slamming three consecutive sixes off debutant Axar Patel off the last three deliveries off the 52nd over.

While the quick cameo had no bearing on the result of the game, it proved to be Moeen’s final contribution to the series before he departs for England. The all-rounder, who picked up eight wickets in the game, opted to leave the bio-bubble and fly back home and will miss the final two Tests.

Moeen scored 43 off the last 48 runs for England in the second innings, and had hit Kuldeep Yadav for a four off the first ball of the 55th over, before he charged down the track and was stumped off the subsequent delivery, leaving him seven short of his 15th Test fifty. The record for the fastest fifty belongs to Misbah-ul-Haq, who hit a 21-ball fifty in 2014.

While the assault had little say on the game’s result, it would surely have garnered interest among Indian Premier League franchises two days before the IPL 2021 auction. Incidentally, it was his former IPL captain Virat Kohli who could only stand and admire the big hitting from leg slip.

Watch the five sixes here: