'I'm more confident about my game now, but will keep working' - Shafali Verma after match-winning innings in Asia Cup semi-final

India registered another emphatic win in the semi-final of the Women’s Asia Cup 2022, thanks to a blistering knock from Shafali Verma which set the tone early. The 18-year-old batted with a lot of freedom in the powerplay and her 28-ball 42 provided the start India would have hoped for against Thailand. Her strike rate of 150 was a huge plus as she hit five fours and a six in her match-winning innings. 

Notably, Verma had been in and out of the playing XI in recent times after a continuous string of low scores and she managed to answer her critics in the best way possible. She will have a much tougher test in the final against Sri Lanka, and another good inning will certainly help her side to storm through an Asia Cup title. She bagged the player of the match for her superlative knock and spoke about the confidence factor after the game.  

Always happy to contribute to the team: Shafali Verma  

Verma mentioned that the confidence has been soaring after the victory and felt that the wicket was good to bat. She further lauded the support act from Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues during her innings and was quite sure about her own confidence being in the right frame. She concluded by expressing her contentment over contributing to a win.  

“Lots of confidence (with the win). Wicket was good to bat, felt good. Smriti and Jemi also did well. We need to look at getting partnerships (regularly). Hope the weather stays good (for the final). I'm more confident about my game now, but will keep working. Always happy to contribute to the team,” Shafali Verma told in the post-match conference. 

Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma's outstanding spell of 3 for 7 in her four overs helped India to a massive victory by 74 runs and now, they will play the final against Sri Lanka on October 15.