Used to bowling with someone better than me' - Moeen on varun pairing
Having disappointingly lost their season opener, kolkata Knight Riders bounced back with a facile win over rajasthan Royals in Guwahati. What would have pleased the defending champions is how someone like moeen ali stepped up on his KKR debut. The seasoned Englishman was a last-minute inclusion for the game after sunil Narine was ruled out due to illness.
As it turned out, Moeen played the perfect replacement role, giving away just 23 runs off his four overs while also picking up the big wickets of yashasvi jaiswal and Nitish Rana. Reflecting on his performance, Moeen felt that sticking to the basics helped him to deliver an effective performance.
"I was just trying to do my job. Sunil (Narine) was a big miss for us. Just tried to stick to my strengths and spin the ball as much as I can, and just contain." said Moeen at the post-match press conference.
It helped the Englishman that the surface in guwahati was on the slower side and had purchase in it for the spinners. Right from his entry into the bowling attack, Moeen found a hint of bite from the surface and his accuracy then made things very difficult for the batters during the middle overs. As a result of his spell and varun Chakaravarthy's magic, RR managed just 56 runs in the nine overs bowled after the PowerPlay, while also losing five wickets in the process.
"It was a good wicket, had a bit of everything. A bit of spin, a bit of seam. It spun nicely but not a massive spin, just enough spin. A bit tacky but a nice ground to play, I've played here in the warm-up games and it was nice. It was nice that there was a bit of spin for us."
It was a game where everything fell into place for KKR right from the toss which proved crucial, considering the slight amount of dew that fell later in the evening. For the side still smarting after the humiliation at Eden Gardens in the season opener, Moeen underlined the importance of getting off the mark at the earliest.
"It's nice to get a win within your first couple of games so that you don't overthink things. Today was a great team performance, everyone bowled well against a good side. We contained well and never really let them get ahead of the game, which then made our batting a bit easier with Quinny (de Kock) playing the way he did was outstanding."
There weren't signs initially that KKR would be able to put a stranglehold, given the way RR started with a 54-run PowerPlay. However, it was also apparent that this wouldn't be a 250-run surface as the new ball also had a bit of grip when the pace was taken off. sanju samson perished after being unable to get off the blocks quickly, but jaiswal and stand-in skipper Riyan Parag appeared to have started solidly until spin was brought on.
Moeen's first over, the seventh of the RR innings, went for just five runs and it set the tone for KKR's middle-overs squeeze that effectively won them the game. The off-spinner used his defensive qualities to choke an end up while his aggressive spin twin varun used his mystery to tie down the batters. As a result, RR's innings nosedived and never recovered thereafter. Moeen explained how the contrasting nature of his and varun as spinners worked well in tandem.
"My job was to keep it tight so that he can build the pressure and maybe get wickets. I'm used to bowling with someone who is better than me and has more mystery than me. My job is to bowl as tight as I can and hopefully, that builds pressure for that person to then get wickets. Varun is bowling outstandingly well as we know and he is a brilliant bowler. He has improved so much over the last two or three years. It is amazing to bowl with somebody like that."
Moeen's best moment of the game was when he produced a ripping off-break…
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel