Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Ajinkya Rahane is extremely pleased with Moeen Ali's bowling performance in his side's 8-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match at the Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati, on Wednesday.
The English off-spinner was an eleventh hour inclusion in KKR's playing XI due to Sunil Narine's injury.
On a tacky track where the ball was gripping and turning, Ali picked up two for 23 and got able support from Varun Chakravarthy (2/17) in restricting RR to 151 for nine which was chased down in 17.3 overs.
"Moeen got his opportunity and he bowled really well. Credit goes to our bowling unit too who were always looking to pick wickets, especially Moeen," Rahane said at the pos-match presentation ceremony.
Asked if Moeen was given any strategic instruction from the team management, Rahane replied in the negative.
"Not much, complete freedom from our side. Moeen is a quality player who has opened in the past. He couldn't get going with the bat, but very happy with what he did with the ball.
"The challenge is to stay in the moment, and every game is an opportunity to learn," the KKR skipper added.
Moeen, who has already quit international cricket, said that he didn't let up his intensity in training despite knowing that he would have to wait for his turn with Chakravarthy and Narine being a settled spin bowling pair.
"I have been practicing well. I was told this morning that Sunil was not well. It was hard to replace Sunil but I did a fair job."
Royals skipper Riyan Parag felt that 170 was a winning score on this track.
"170 was going to be a really good score, that's what we were aiming for. I personally rushed a little bit knowing the wicket here. Fell short by 20 runs. That was the plan, to get Quinny (Quinton de Kock) out early, but that didn't happen."
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