Saqib Mahmood celebrates with England teammates during 4th T20I.© AFP
Saqib Mahmood – that is one name which the Indian T20I cricket team is going to remember for a long time. The England pacer sent shockwaves in India camp with a terrific over that saw three stars Sanju Samson (1), Tilak Varma (0) and Suryakumar Yadav (0) fall in a space of six balls. In doing so, Mahmood became the first England player to bowl a triple-wicket maiden. He is also the first bowler in the world to achieve the feat against India in T20Is. Mahmood took the three wickets in the second over – the joint-earliest to take a triple wicket maiden in T20Is along with Jerome Taylor (vs SA in Gqeberha, 2007).
England won the toss and elected to bowl first against India in the fourth T2OI at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday.
England have made two changes, spinner Saqib Mahmood comes in for Mark Wood while Jacob Bethell replaces Jamie Smith. On the other hand, India have made three changes: Arshdeep Singh comes in for Mohammed Shami, Rinku Singh replaces Dhruv Jurel and Shivam Dube comes in for Washington Sundar.
England captain Jos Buttler said, “We are gonna bowl first this evening. It feels like a great atmosphere already, the series is nicely set-up. Very happy with that performance, we have areas to improve but happy to get the win. Little bit unsure to be the honest with the dew, if it will come in or not. We have two changes – Mahmood for Wood, Bethell for Smith.”
India captain Suryakumar Yadav added, “It is all about coming here and playing good brand of cricket. Stick to the basics. We have left that game in Rajkot. Hopefully, we put up an entertaining show for this crowd. Little bit on the drier, put runs on the board and defend. Arshdeep comes in place of Shami, Rinku comes in for Jurel and we have had some firepower – Shivam Dube comes in for Washington Sundar.”
With IANS inputs
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