The International Cricket Council has punished the South African spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba for an offensive celebration towards India's Harleen Deol in their match between the two on October 9 at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Mlaba is said to have breached the level one ICC Code of Conduct. The ICC has given a demerit point to her. ICC released an official statement related to this, saying, "Mlaba was found to have breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to 'using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match'." It added, "In addition to this, one demerit point has been added to Mlaba’s disciplinary record, for whom it was the first offence in a 24-month period." This happened in the October 9 match of the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup, when Mlaba broke through Deol's defense and topped the stumps. Watching that, Mlaba, with her usual quirk, cheekily waved at Deol as a means of goodbye. According to ICC, it could have provoked the batter. However, Deol walked out calmly. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ICC (@icc) There was no need for an official hearing, as Mlaba admitted her offense and accepted the ICC punishment as Trudy Anderson of the ICC International Panel of Match Referees proposed. The allegations were made by on-field umpires Jacquline Williams and Kim Cotton, with Candace le Borde serving as the third umpire and Sue Redfern as the fourth. The ICC further added, "Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum penalty of 50 percent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points." India had lost the match by 3 wickets despite a gritty fight from the wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh (94 off 77) down the order. Chasing 252, SA captain Laura Wolvaardt scored 70 off 111 balls while opening the innings. Chloe Tyron managed 49 off 66 while Nadine De Klerk finished the game standing not out for 84. For the West Indies, Mlaba took 2, along with Marizanne Kapp and Kler. Tyron took three wickets.