"He knows when to bowl players" - Moeen Ali lavishes praise on MS Dhoni's captaincy
Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Moeen Ali has heaped praise on MS Dhoni's captaincy following a 12-run victory over the Lucknow Super Giants on Monday at the Chepauk. The English all-rounder conceded that the keeper-batter is a master tactician and knows what bowlers to bowl when.
The Super Kings found themselves under pressure as Kyle Mayers got the Super Giants off to a rollicking start in pursuit of 218. With the visitors raising 73 off five overs, Dhoni brought on the spinners to wrest back some control and they delivered to leave the opposition 82-3 in the space of a few deliveries.
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Ali, who took four wickets in as many overs, underlined that he approached it like Test cricket and believes bowling in partnerships did wonders for them. The veteran cricketer opined that MS Dhoni knows what bowlers to bowl when, which makes him an excellent captain. He said in the post-match presentation:
"I tried to bowl like I do in Test cricket and just spin it as hard as I can. They have big hitters so you don’t want to get it up there against these guys but we had a good bowling partnership so it was nice to get the win. MS knows what he’s doing. The great thing about bowling under MS is he knows when to bowl players. I’m not going to bowl all the time with Jadeja in there. I think it’s going to take partnerships and individuals to stand up and win games."
While Ali took four scalps, Tushar Deshpande and Mitchell Santner shared three wickets between them to close out the game. The England all-rounder arrived to bowl in the sixth over of the innings and nipped out the dangerous Mayers for 53, followed by KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya, and Marcus Stoinis in his next three overs.
Moeen Ali's cameo takes CSK to a match-winning total
Earlier, the Super Kings blazed away from the outset as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway shared a 110-run stand in nine overs. Gaikwad, who scored a 50-ball 92 in the season opener against the Gujarat Titans, top-scored again for his side with 57 off 31 balls. Ali blasted three fours before becoming one of the three victims of Ravi Bishnoi, while Ambati Rayudu and Shivam Dube made 27 each.
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The bowling performance was also a marked improvement from their contest against the Titans; however, Dhoni warned the bowlers about the number of extras conceded (18).
The four-time champions will next face the Mumbai Indians on Saturday.