diff --git a/vlmeval/utils/matching_util.py b/vlmeval/utils/matching_util.py
index d62f16c25..e454cc54e 100644
--- a/vlmeval/utils/matching_util.py
+++ b/vlmeval/utils/matching_util.py
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@
 logger = get_logger(__name__)
 
 
+# Matches verbose chain-of-thought answers such as:
+#   "The correct answer is **B**. Here's why: ..."
+#   "The answer is C."
+_VERBOSE_ANSWER_RE = re.compile(r"(?i)(?:correct\s+)?answer\s+is\s+\**([ABCD])\**")
+
+
 def can_infer_option(answer, choices):
     verbose = os.environ.get('VERBOSE', 0)
     # Choices is a dictionary
@@ -47,6 +53,11 @@ def count_choice(splits, choices, prefix='', suffix=''):
                 return ch
     elif count == 0 and count_choice(splits, {'Z', ''}) == 1:
         return 'Z'
+
+    match = _VERBOSE_ANSWER_RE.search(answer or "")
+    if match and match.group(1).upper() in choices:
+        return match.group(1).upper()
+    
     return False