Asha Sobhana's Celebration After Taking Wicket In India-New Zealand Women's T20 World Cup Match Goes Viral

India opened its campaign in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 on Friday (October 4) against New Zealand in Dubai but failed to get the better of the Sophie Devine-led side and instead went down by 58 runs. After New Zealand posted a total of 160 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs, India could only manage to score 102 runs in 19 overs. For New Zealand, captain Devine remained unbeaten on 57 runs from 36 balls, and apart from her openers, Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer scored 27 and 34 runs, respectively.

Bates and Plimmer added 67 runs for the first wicket, and then they both got out in quick succession. While Arundhati Reddy accounted for Bates’ dismissal, Plimmer was sent back to the pavilion by RCB spinner Asha Sobhana on the first ball of the ninth over.

In her first Women’s T20 World Cup match for India, 33-year-old Sobhana got Plimmer caught out by Smriti Mandhana. And after taking her first wicket in the shortest format megaevent, the Kerala-based cricketer came up with a unique celebration, the video of which is now going viral on the internet.

Sobhana finished the match with figures of 1 for 22 in four overs. Pace Renuka Singh Thakur dismissed two White Ferns batters for 27 runs in her quota of four overs.

Friday was a disappointing day for Indian batters who failed to fire, and as a result, Women in Blue went down by 58 runs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur top-scored for the 2020 T20 World Cup losing finalists by making 15 runs, and Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma scored 13 runs each.

Opening batter Smriti Mandhana and wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh were sent back to the pavilion for 12 runs each by Eden Carson and Lea Tahuhu, respectively.

After suffering a shocking defeat in the first match, India will face archrivals Pakistan in the next match on Sunday (October 6), which is also scheduled to take place in Dubai.

The match against Pakistan is a must-win for Women in Blue because one more defeat can end India’s chances of qualifying for the semifinals. Pakistan is coming into Sunday’s match after defeating Sri Lanka by 31 runs on Thursday (October 3).