Kolkata spinner Moeen dominates Royals batters by thinking like one

Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Moeen Ali said he dominated Rajasthan Royals batters by thinking like one after helping his side to their first victory of the new Indian Premier League (IPL) season on Wednesday.

Sunil Narine's illness opened the door for Moeen to make his Kolkata debut and the Englishman grabbed his chance with both hands, claiming 2-23 in his four tidy overs.

Trinidadian Narine was the most valuable player when Kolkata won the IPL title last year, and is the franchise's most successful bowler, but Moeen proved a more-than-adequate replacement.

After removing Rajasthan opener Yashasvi Jaiswal he returned to bowl Nitish Rana from around the wicket with a classical off-spinner's delivery that spun past the bat to hit the top of the middle stump.

"That ball was a nice ball," Moeen said after three-time champions Kolkata won by eight wickets.

"I don't have the skill as other bowlers but my job is to contain as much as I can.

"I think my skill is that I think like a batter. So a lot of the time I'm trying to think what they think and it works in my favour."

Moeen managed only five with the bat but his opening partner Quinton de Kock led Kolkata's successful chase with an unbeaten 97 to help the defending champions bounce back from the defeat by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the season opener.

Moeen, who retired from England duty last year, continues to impress in franchise cricket and the 37-year-old is keen to act as a productive spin partner for Varun Chakravarthy.

"I'm used to bowling with somebody who is better than me and has more mystery than me, so my job there is to bowl as tight as I can and hopefully that builds pressure for that person to then get wickets," he said of Chakravarthy.

"Retired from international cricket, yeah, but I still play a lot of leagues and I still try to stay on top of my game because I still want to play for as long as I can and do well."