When this family in Pune city in western India installed cricket nets near their home, they weren't expecting this kind of catch.

Video filmed on October 23 shows a five-foot-long rat snake trapped in the cricket nets, which was spotted by one of the children when he went to retrieve the ball.

Rescuer Saidas Kusal dispatched his team to the scene for the rescue operation. "We saw that the snake had struggled to free itself but had only managed to entangle itself with the wires more tightly," he said.

Team member Mita Ghadre is seen holding the head of the snake gently and cutting through the wires of the net with small scissors, freeing the snake.

She said: “The agitated snake was trying to wrap itself around me. I worked carefully and made sure it was not harmed in any way.”

The snake was later released into its natural habitat, although it's not known if this was cow corner!

A family in Pune in western India had installed a cricket net to let their children play without losing the ball.

On October 23 morning when the kids were playing with their friends one of them went to retrieve the ball and saw a five-foot long rat snake trapped in the net.

Getting a distress call, rescuer Saidas Kusal went with his team to free the snake. They saw that the snake had struggled to free itself but had only managed to entangle itself with the wires more tightly.

Team member Mita Ghadre held the head of the snake gently and cut through the wires of the net with a small scissor and freed the snake.

She said: “The agitated snake was trying to wrap itself around me. I worked carefully and made sure it was not harmed in any way.”

The snake was later released at a natural habitat.