India opener Shafali Verma’s match-winning performance with the bat in the Women’s World Cup final against South Africa last month has earned her the ICC ‘Player of the Month’ award for November. Shafali, who came in as a replacement for the injured Pratika Rawal in the semifinal against Australia, smashed a 78-ball 87 — the highest by an Indian opener in a Women’s World Cup final — as the hosts amassed a mammoth 298 for 7 and then secured a 52-run win to lift their maiden World Cup trophy in Navi Mumbai. Shafali shared a 104-run stand with fellow opener Smriti Mandhana to set the platform for the big total. The 21-year-old beat Thailand’s Thipatcha Putthawong and UAE’s Esha Oza for her first-ever ‘Player of the Month’ award. “My first ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup experience didn’t go as I expected but it ended far better than I could have ever wished or imagined,” said Shafali in an ICC release. “I’m grateful that I could contribute to the team’s success in the final and that …