India-born left-arm fast bowler Jay Mundra made a memorable start to his international career and became the second player for Ireland to take a wicket with the first ball of his T20 career.Playing his first international match against India in Belfast on Friday, Mundra hit a four off the first ball of his spell in the second over of India’s innings. His victim was Sanju Samson, who was bowled after pulling the ball back onto his stumps in an attempt to force the ball through the off side.Mundra joined Matthew Humphreys as the only Ireland bowlers to take a wicket with the first ball of their T20 career.Wicket on the first ball of T20 career for Ireland

The 29-year-old was making his T20I debut after being handed his first international cap by Ireland for the opening game of the series at the Civil Service Cricket Club.Born in Tonk, Rajasthan, Mundra moved to Ireland in 2021 to pursue a master’s degree in electronics and communications. After settling in the country, he joined Leinster Cricket Club in Dublin and worked his way up into Ireland’s domestic cricket system.Interestingly, Mundra did not start out as a fast bowler. He started his cricket journey as a batsman who also bowled left-arm spin before later switching to pace.Earlier in the day, India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to field first.India’s fast bowlers kept Ireland’s batsmen under pressure with disciplined bowling and restricted the host team to 182 runs for nine wickets. Harshit Rana was the best bowler with 3 wickets for 24 runs.Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker fought back, scoring 50 runs in 36 balls, but he did not get enough support from the other batsmen.Despite expectations before the match, India did not give a chance to teenage batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi to debut.