MOEEN Ali had a day to remember as England made life difficult for Australia on the second day of the first Investec Test at the SWALEC Stadium.

First the Worcestershire all-rounder scored a superb 77 - the second highest score in the innings behind Joe Root - to propel England's first innings total past 400.

Then the 28-year-old picked up the prized wickets of his former Worcestershire team-mate Steve Smith and Australian captain Michael Clarke.

Moeen resumed on 26 not out with England 343-7 and dominated the remainder of the innings and helped shepherd the tail to 430 all out.

He looked in good form and turned Mitchell Johnson off his pads for four and cover drove Mitchell Starc to the ropes.

An inside edge for four against Starc brought up his half century off 69 balls.

Moeen continued to play his shots, slop sweeping and driving spinner Nathan Lyon for further fours and collecting another cover-driven boundary at Starc's expense.

He had scored 77 of the 126 runs during his time at the wicket when he went for a big drive against Starc and was caught at slip by Shane Watson.

Moeen shared in stands of 50 with Jos Buttler, 52 with Stuart Broad and 24 with Mark Wood before being ninth out at 419.

In total he hit 11 fours and a six and faced 88 balls.

He then made a double strike with the ball as Australia closed on 264-5.

Smith (33) came down the wicket to Moeen who, having spotted him coming, fired the ball down the legside with the result the batsman popped a catch up to skipper Alastair Cook at silly mid on.

Then Clarke (38) also gave Moeen the charge. got too close to the pitch of the ball and offered a return waist high catch which was gratefully held onto.