Moeen Ali went for the spectacular on Wednesday as he attempted a one-handed switch hit during England's third ODI against South Africa.

Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler hit centuries in a sensational 232-run partnership in 211 balls to bail England out of trouble in the final ODI.

But one of the more striking moments of the day's action was when Ali attempted the surprise one-hander.

He shaped up to reverse sweep but ending up going one with one hand hand and swinging a tennis backhand at the ball but unfortunately wasn't able to connect.

Ali followed off the attempted trick shot with a more traditional hit as he smacked the ball for six. 

England Cricket's official Twitter account summed the moment up best, writing alongside a heart emoji: '43.4 - Tries one-handed reverse sweep. 43.5 - Hits six over long on. Moeen Ali.'

Fans also rushed onto social media in astonishment of the daring attempt by Ali.  

Thomas Selby wrote: 'Moeen Ali trying a one hand reverse shot,' while Taimoor Zaman commented: 'What was brother Moeen doing?'

Alex White said: 'Moeen Ali brings me immense joy,' while Dave Tickner suggested the picture of the moment should be hung up in the Louvre Museum in Paris. 

The Cricket Podcast said that it's 'impossible not to love Moeen Ali.' 

Twitter user @LenM4 also posted: 'Moeen casually deciding he wants to be Roger Federer's successor,' due to his entertaining style.'

The excitement provided by Ali though came to an end when Luigi Ngidi bowled him out with a yorker to send him on his way for 41 from 23 balls. 

England, thanks to the brilliance of Malan and Buttler, set a score to beat of 346-7.

Bidding to avoid a series clean sweep and a sixth successive loss in this format, England lurched to 14 for three as Lungi Ngidi snared Jason Roy, Ben Duckett and Harry Brook on a two-paced Kimberley pitch.

Malan (118 off 114 balls) and Buttler (131 off 127 balls) rebuilt slowly but gradually flowered, peppering the shorter straight boundaries, sharing 13 of England's 19 sixes.

While Malan was dropped on 27 and 46, his was a crucial knock in a record fourth-wicket stand in ODIs for England, who added 217 in the last 20 overs.

The tricky nature of the uneven surface was exemplified by England being 20 for three after 10 overs while Buttler took 14 balls to get off nought, doing so with a back-foot cut for four off Marco Jansen.

Malan's first four came off his 48th delivery while two balls later he grazed the fingertips of Aiden Markram after pulling Tabraiz Shamsi's googly hard to midwicket.

While the ball was turning, the introductions of spinners Markram and Shamsi released a pressure valve. Buttler gave an indication of what was to come by clattering Markram straight over the shorter straight boundary.

It was not until the halfway point of their innings that England reached three figures and were on 129 for three after 30 overs, after Buttler had brought up the 100-run stand with a 105-metre six off Shamsi.

But Malan, dropped again when Shamsi spilled a diving return catch, went to fifty with a pulled six off Parnell and then pressed the accelerator with six-four-six as he took advantage of Jansen dropping short.

Having played more of the anchoring role, Malan overtook Buttler although the pair continued to find the boundary rope with increasing regularity and reached 106-ball tons in the same over off Sisanda Magala.

Malan capitalised when Ngidi dropped short, muscling him over cow corner twice in an over to spoil the fast bowler's figures. Magala was then taken the distance by Buttler but the mammoth partnership was ended later in the over when a slower ball caught Malan's leading edge and ballooned to Klaasen.

Ali took England beyond 300 with back-to-back sixes off Ngidi before he was bowled out, while a tiring Buttler thumped Jansen to long-on.

England's innings lost some momentum in the final couple of overs but they are still up to what looks a competitive total at halfway.