England all-rounder Moeen Ali helped Chennai Super Kings beat Lucknow Supergiants by 12 runs to win 26-4 in the Indian Premier League.
Chasing 218, Lucknow reached 79 in just 5.3 overs, with Kyle Mears hitting 53 off 22 balls before Moeen dismissed him and fellow opener KL Rahul for 20.
Moeen then got Krunal Pandya and Marcus Stoinis, with Lucknow posting 205-7.
Chennai scored 217-7, Rutoraj Gaekwad scored 57 and England pacer Mark Wood scored 3-49.
England Test captain Ben Stokes surprisingly bowled an over from Chennai.
The all-rounder was expected to be limited during the bowling competition as he received an injection in his painful left knee. He made it through his over unscathed – albeit with 18 runs conceded.
Stokes, who was sold to Chennai for around £1.6 million, managed just eight runs with the bat, his second consecutive single-figure score as Chennai lost their opening game to defending champions Gujarat Titans.
But Chennai’s 217 was set up by an explosive opening stand of 110 in 9.1 overs between Gaikwad and New Zealand’s Dion Conway, who scored 47 runs.
Ambati Rayudu scored an unbeaten 27 off 14 balls to put Chennai past 200, with former India captain MS Dhoni hitting back-to-back sixes in the final over to the biggest cheers from his home crowd.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi starred for Lucknow with 3-28, while Wood added to his wicket tally after taking 5-14 in Lucknow’s opening win, but conceded more than 12 runs an over.
Lucknow topped the required run rate in the opening powerplay, taking advantage of loose bowling and short boundaries, but Deepak Hooda and Rahul fell within three balls to slump from 79-0 to 82-3.
West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran scored an 18-ball 32, including three sixes, but the economical spin of Moeen and Mitchell Santner, who claimed 1-21, effectively drove the runs in the middle overs. Stopped the flow.
“It was a tough one because they have a lot of big hitters so I was just trying to bowl the same way in Test cricket,” Moeen said.
“It was really nice to win it. It’s always nice to have my hand up and us winning some games.”
Lucknow will look to bounce back against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday, while Chennai take on Mumbai Indians the following day.
