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Harmanpreet Kaur celebrates with Shafali Verma during the World Cup final. (Express Photo | Narendra Vaskar)
A beaming India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur explained that her gut feeling to trust Shafali Verma with the ball helped the Men in Blue turn the game around at a time when South Africa was looking ominous. With the Proteas skipper Laura Wolvaardt looking unbeatable along with Sune Luus, Shafali struck by sending the latter packing with a splendid caught and bowl attempt. She snapped up Marizanne Kapp in her next over to leave South Africa reeling at 123-4 in 22.1 overs.
“When Laura and Sune were batting, they looked really good. I saw Shefali standing there, and the way she batted earlier – I just knew it was her day. My heart said, “Give her one over.” I went with my gut. I asked her if she was ready, and she said yes immediately. She’s always wanted to contribute with the ball, and that over changed everything for us. When she first joined the team, we told her she might need to bowl two or three overs. She said, “If you give me the ball, I’ll bowl ten for the team!” That’s how confident she is. She’s fearless, positive, and always ready to step up for the team,” Harmanpreet said at the post-match interview.
The skipper also said that she knew that even after back to back losses, the team had something special to bounce back from the adversity.
“Even after those three losses, we always had that belief. We spoke about it after the last game – we knew this team had something special to turn things around. Credit to every single member. They stayed positive, focused, and gave everything day and night. This team truly deserves to be here,” she said.
India finally won a maiden Women’s ICC Trophy on Sunday when they defeated South Africa by 52 runs. Shafali also starred with 87 runs while Deepti Sharma shone with both the bat and ball, scoring 58 and then taking 4 wickets to help India to a famous win.
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