Asha Shobana had picked only five wickets in all of the WPL last year. ©AFP
As the Royal Challengers Bangalore players wound up the on-field celebrations and strode towards the dug-out, Smriti Mandhana suddenly stopped in her tracks. With an animated side bow, the captain gestured Asha Shobana Joy to march ahead of her and lead the team back to the dressing room. After all, the little-known legspinner had snatched RCB a victory from the jaws of defeat with record-setting figures of 5 for 22.
Bengaluru had comfortably surpassed the opening night numbers on Saturday, nearly packing the M. Chinnaswamy stadium for their women’s team’s first home game of the WPL, against UP Warriorz. In a modest chase of RCB’s 157, UPW had already managed to stun the home crowd into silence courtesy of a threatening 77-run stand between Grace Harris (38 off 23) and Shweta Sehrawat (31 off 25) that came in just 46 deliveries.
Joining hands at 49/3 in the ninth over, with their asking rate nearly touching 10, Harris had wasted no time in launching the counterattack, and Sehrawat had just followed suit. Barring Ellyse Perry’s first over – the 12th of the chase – the subsequent six overs until the time-out had all yielded runs in double digits for the visitors. The likes of Perry, Sophie Devine, Georgia Wareham and Sophie Molineux had all been taken to the cleaners as UPW raced away to 126/3 with Harris in her element and Sehrawat showing glimpses of the talent this stage is yet to see in its full glory.
Mandhana threw the ball to Sobhana for the 17th to try and clean up the mess, and the wrist-spinner answered the captain’s call with aplomb. She began with a tossed up delivery, inviting Sehrawat out of her crease to drive. The young batter took the bait without getting to the pitch of the ball and hit it uppishly straight to Mandhana at extra cover. The partnership was broken, the game was back in balance.
Kiran Navgire was adjudged LBW first ball before Harris animatedly talked her into a review and got the decision overturned. Cameras caught Alyssa Healy gesturing to Harris to ‘calm down’ as she sensed the game slipping away from Warriorz, but the captain’s advice fell on deaf ears.
Seeing that Harris was going against the turn a lot, Asha pulled her length back and dished out a slower, tossed up legbreak on middle. Harris’ eyes lit up as she lined up for a wild swipe across the line but was way early into her sweep. The ball clipped the top of off-stump, sending the stadium into a wild frenzy and triggering shock waves through the UPW dugout.
The game had turned decisively with that scalp but before bowing out for the night, for her last delivery, Asha lured Navgire way out of her crease for a blind slog. Navgire threw it away, and was stumped for 1, leaving UPW at 128/6 with 30 needed off the final three. Warriorz eventually fell two short in a dramatic last-ball finish.
Every time I saw her on the field, her eyes said ‘give me the ball and I’ll get you the wicket’ – Mandhana ©BCCI
While this may have been the game-changing over in the overall narrative, it was the second time in the same innings that Asha had turned the game on its head to nudge her team ahead in the contest. Tahlia McGrath and Vrinda Dinesh had led a steady PowerPlay recovery for UPW after losing Healy cheaply at the start of the chase. McGrath, in fact, had shimmied down the track and handsomely lofted the first delivery she faced from Asha deep into long-on stands in her first over. But the bowler’s comeback spoke of immaculate control and confidence in her skillset.
A generously floated legbreak outside off had Vrinda Dinesh – struggling for some rhythm and trying way too many things in the middle – skip down the track in search of a release shot. The ball turned away beating her on the outside edge and Richa Ghosh did the rest before the batter could regain her crease. The icing on the cake was one ball later when she completely outfoxed a well-set McGrath with a full and fast delivery that made a mess of her leg-stump as the Australian shuffled across for a premeditated sweep and missed. The Harris-Sehrawat onslaught that ensued shortly afterwards was in response to this ninth over double whammy, but the spinner eventually had the last laugh.
On a night where the best of international stars leaked runs, Asha stood out delivering tough overs under pressure to return a miserly 5 for 22 that is now the first-ever fifer by an Indian in WPL’s short history yet, and also the first by a spinner.
“Every time I saw her on the field, her eyes said ‘give me the ball and I’ll get you the wicket’,” RCB captain Mandhana said of her decision to back the uncapped leggie for the make-or-break over post the strategic time-out. “This may only be her second season of WPL but not to forget that she is a really experienced player. She’s been around on the domestic circuit for a long time now, and I’m really happy she’s getting all the due for her talent.”
Hearing her captain heap such rich praise and acknowledge the domestic toil, an emotional Asha fought back tears as she arrived to collect her Player of the Match award. “I’m not even thinking about my five wickets. We just won our first match at our home ground, nothing is bigger than that for me at the moment,” she said, choked with emotion. “I’m happy for my bowling but I’m really happy to have contributed to the team’s success tonight, in front of the home crowd.”
Alongside most of the squad, Asha too had embraced a tough inaugural season at RCB where she picked all of five wickets in as many matches last year. The management had shown faith in the 32-year-old in the form of retention, and in the very next opportunity she proved why the investment was worth holding on to despite the initial lean returns. On Saturday, Asha was both the hope and joy for RCB.
© cricbuzz
