Watch: Indian spinner Asha Shobana claimed three wickets in a dramatic match-turning over that sparked a collapse and eventually gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a two-run win in their WPL match against UP Warriorz yesterday (February 24).
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The 32-year-old Shobhana was the star of the day for RCB, becoming the first Indian cricketer to claim a five-for in the WPL, finishing with figures of 5-22, as the Bangalore team prevailed in a last-ball finish. Just like the opening fixture the night before, the chasing team needed five runs off the last ball: unlike Sajeevan Sajana, though, Deepti Sharma could not send the ball all the way.
The damage was done in the 17th over when Shobana sparked a stunning twist: across six balls, she dismissed Shweta Sehrawat, Grace Harris and Kiran Navgire. UPW slipped from 126-3 to 128-6, eventually managing 155-7 at the end of 20 overs.
Earlier, half-centuries from Sabbhineni Meghana and Richa Ghosh carried RCB to 157-6, having found themselves at 57-3 at one point.
At the post-match presentation, Shobana received the Player of the Match award with tears in her eyes. She said: “A lot of struggle and a lot of hard work. I’m not thinking about my five wickets, we won our first game at our home ground. Very happy that I contributed to the victory and that too at Chinnaswamy. I knew the situation would be something like this and I visualised.”
Shobhana is the first Indian to take a five-wicket haul in the WPL, and the fourth overall after Marizanne Kapp, Tara Norris and Kim Garth.
Watch Asha Shobana’s three-wicket over:
THREE wickets in an over 🤯
Triple treat from Asha Shobana and this match is heading down to the wire 💥
Match Centre 💻📱 https://t.co/kIBDr0FhM4#TATAWPL | #RCBvUPW pic.twitter.com/IQ469MGFPC
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 24, 2024
