Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has heaped praise on swashbuckling batter Shafali Verma for her consistent show in the ongoing ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia. Meanwhile, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side recorded their third consecutive wins in the tournament beating New Zealand by four runs to become the first time to progress through to the semifinals.
Shafali, who idolises Sachin Tendulkar, has made full use of the fielding restrictions in all the three games to take her side to the semifinals. While she returned with an impressive 15-ball 29 (26 runs in boundaries) against Australia, Shafali Verma carried the momentum forward versus Bangladesh with a 17-ball 39 (including 4 sixes) to win the man of the match award.
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Her excellent run continued against New Zealand when he struck 46 runs off 34 deliveries including four boundaries and three sixes. Her innings was the key to India's victory which helped them post 133 runs in otherwise a poor batting effort from India before Sikha Pandey bowled an outstanding 20th over to defend the target and win the match.
Needing 34 off the last two, Amelia Kerr took the tournament's highest wicket-taker – Poonam Yadav – apart and left 16 for the final over. There were a couple of boundaries in the 20th over as well but Shikha Pandey kept her calm and nailed the yorker when it was needed.
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The social media was on fire ever since India registered their third consecutive victory. Former Indian cricketers including Virender Sehwag hailed the entire team for their effort. Sehwag, in particular, praised Shafali Verma for another man of the match effort calling her a rockstar.
"Wah bhai Wah ! Great effort by the girls to hold on to their nerves and beat New Zealand and qualify for the semi finals of the #T20WorldCup. Shafali Varma is a rockstar. Anand aa raha hai ladkiyon ka performance dekhne mein," Virender Sehwag wrote on Twitter.
Wah bhai Wah ! Great effort by the girls to hold on to their nerves and beat New Zealand and qualify for the semi finals of the #T20WorldCup
Shafali Varma is a rockstar. Anand aa raha hai ladkiyon ka performance dekhne mein. pic.twitter.com/euq2368NTF— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 27, 2020