Shafali shines as India marches to T20 World Cup semi-finals undefeated

AS Indian women continue their winning streak in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, the 16-year-old Shafali Verma remains the pillar.

The team management has given Shafali Verma the freedom to play her natural game, which has set the Women's T20 World Cup ablaze, said India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday (29).

Now, Shafali is the second-highest run-getter in the ongoing tournament.

She has so far scored 161 runs, hitting 18 fours and nine sixes in four matches at an astounding strike rate of 161.

In the final group game on Saturday, India defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets.

Shafali's blistering 34-ball 47 powered India to seal the victory over Lanka. So far, her top score in the T20 World Cup is 49 against host Australia.

"Shafali is someone who loves to play big shots, and we don't want to stop her. She should continue doing the same and she should continue enjoying her game," Harmanpreet said after the match.

Shafali Verma was born on January 28, 2004, in Haryana, India. She made her WT20I debut for India, against South Africa, on 24 September 2019.

In T20Is she has scored 485 runs from 18 matches with an average of 28.52. Her highest score in this format is 73.

Verma was the youngest woman to play for India in a T20I match, and in November 2019 against the West Indies, became the youngest woman for India to score a half-century in international cricket.

In January 2020, she was named in India's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia and was awarded a central contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).