IPL 2021: CSK vs RR – Moeen Ali shines under the lights of Wankhede

After the dismissal of Ruturaj Gaikwad pretty early in the innings, which has been a recurring theme this season, Moeen Ali arrived at the crease and watched Faf du Plessis go berserk at the other end. Following Du Plessis' dismissal, Moeen Ali helmed the challenge and freed his hands to play the shots.

Moeen hit a four and a six off Mustafizur's over, rotated the strike well with Suresh Raina, and kept the flow of runs smooth. He also hit another six off Chris Morris and departed on a solid 20 ball-26 and made the job of Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, and MS Dhoni succeeding him easier. However, the England all-rounder wasn't done for the night.

Moeen Ali weaved his magic with the ball

CSK ended up getting 188 runs on board and we've seen scores like that being chased easily at the Wankhede already this season. However, it's a difficult job to do so when an inspired Moeen Ali takes the ball and spins the middle order to sleep, denying the opposition even a sniff of victory.

Despite his waning powers with the bat, MS Dhoni is still a master of the game. In this match, he used spinners from both ends with Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja to keep things tight in the middle overs and wrestled control of the game back.

In his very first over, the 13^th over of the game, Moeen Ali dismissed the dangerous David Miller who had scored a vital half-century during the run-chase against Delhi in the last match. Miller had to depart for just two runs as he missed the ball while trying to sweep and was given out LBW. Moeen conceded just a single run from that over and almost trapped Tewatia with another LBW on the last delivery.

In his second over, the England spinner dismissed the livewire Riyan Parag on the very first delivery. Parag's slog sweep could only find deep mid-wicket. Chris Morris, who turned up with astounding big-hitting and finished the last match against Delhi Capitals in style was next to fall victim to Ali's deceit. The middle order of Rajasthan had crumbled with Moeen standing tall in the wake of destruction.

He finished his spell of three overs in the match with three victims to his name and just seven runs conceded in the game. Seven runs in three overs when the Required Run Rate was over for the opposition when he picked up the ball.

It goes without saying that Moeen Ali has proved his worth in almost every single game so far and has performed the roles assigned to him with much integrity and aplomb. Take a bow, Moeen!