Pune T20I: Suryakumar, Samson flop again in rare triple-wicket ...

Bowling his very first over in the 5-match T20I series against India, England's Saqib Mahmood silenced the crowd in Pune with a jaw-dropping triple-wicket maiden on Friday, January 31. Bowling with the new-ball, Saqib dismissed Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, and then captain Suryakumar Yadav in a riveting opening spell.

The Indian top-order's struggles against the pace and bounce continued as Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav threw away their wickets in the second over of the match. In-form Tilak Varma also fell to Mahmood—trying to charge the batter. Tilak's aggression worked against him, as Saqib's ball took his outside edge and flew to third man.

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This was the first instance of any bowler taking a triple-wicket maiden against India in a T20I match. Saqib's riveting first over had India reeling in the powerplay, with a score of 12/3 after 2 overs.

Mahmood was brought into the side in place of Mark Wood. Wood had bowled well in the last three games, but was rested from this match, perhaps due to workload management. Saqib did not let England feel the absence of the tearaway pacer.

First, the pacer got the wicket of Sanju Samson, who pulled a short ball straight into the hands of deep square leg. This was Samson's fourth dismissal of similar nature in 4 matches. The second wicket of Tilak Varma came after the left-hander got a huge edge to deep third man after charging early at the pacer.

After the forst two wickets fell in the first two balls of the over, Jos Buttler packed the inside field with two slips and a gully, added a short leg and brought the mid-on close to the bowler as well. In the final ball of the over, India captain Suryakumar Yadav got a leading edge to short mid-on while trying to flick a rising ball to the leg side.