India-born arm pacer Jai Moondra made a memorable start to his international career by becoming only the second Irish player to take a wicket with the first ball of his T20I career.Playing his first international match against India in Belfast on Friday, Moondra struck with the first delivery of his spell in the second over of India’s innings. His victim was Sanju Samson, who was bowled after dragging the ball back onto his stumps while trying to force it through the off side.Moondra joined Matthew Humphreys as the only Irish bowlers to claim a wicket with the first ball of his T20I career.Wicket off the first ball of T20I career for Ireland
- Matthew Humphreys
- Jai Moondra.
The 29-year-old was making his T20I debut after Ireland handed him his first international cap for the opening game of the series at the Civil Service Cricket Club.Born in Tonk, Rajasthan, Moondra moved to Ireland in 2021 to pursue a Masters in Electronics and Communication. After settling in the country, he joined the Leinster Cricket Club in Dublin and worked his way up through Ireland’s domestic cricket system.Interestingly, Moondra did not start out as a fast bowler. He started his cricket journey as a batsman who also played left-arm spin before moving on to pace.Earlier in the day, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field first.India’s fast bowlers kept the Irish batsmen under pressure with disciplined bowling and restricted the hosts to 182 for nine. Harshit Rana was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 24.Irish captain Lorcan Tucker batted with 50 off 36 balls but did not get enough support from the other batsmen.India did not give a debut to teenage batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi despite expectations before the match.