Pune, Jan 31 England’s pace sensation Saqib Mahmood etched his name in history with a breathtaking triple-wicket maiden, the first-ever in men’s T20 internationals, dismantling India’s top order in a single over in the fourth T2OI at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Mahmood steamed in for his first over of the match with England employing a short-ball strategy, the pressure was on India’s batters from the start. Sanju Samson was the first to fall, mistiming a pull shot straight to Brydon Carse at deep square leg and departed at a score of one run.
Tilak Varma followed immediately, slicing his very first delivery to Jofra Archer, who took a sharp catch at deep third man to depart on duck. The drama intensified when Suryakumar Yadav, known for his 360-degree stroke play, chipped a rising delivery straight to short mid-on, where Carse took his second catch of the over and got out for a four-ball duck. Suryakumar Yadav has had a tough series so far. In four innings, he has scored just 12 and 14 runs in two matches, while getting out for ducks in the other two. Sanju Samson has also not been in great form throughout the series.
Mahmood is playing his first game of the ongoing T20I series after having been left out of the playing XI in the opening three games. The 27-year-old missed out on a training camp with the England squad in UAE after facing a delay over the Indian visa. Mahmood had encountered similar issues in the past and, in 2019, he had to be replaced in an England Lions squad for the India tour due to a delay in obtaining his visa. A similar reason had prevented Mahmood from travelling to India for a Lancashire pre-season camp last year.
At the time of writing the story India were reeling on 57 for 4 in 7.2 overs.
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