international Cricket The Council (ICC) has shortlisted three Asian cricketers, Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews, bowler Asitha Fernando and veteran Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, for the May 2022 Men’s Player of the Month award.
The trio have managed to make it to the elite monthly performance list for their individual performances during the two-match Test series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan team came out on top in the second Test by 10 wickets to seal the series 1-0.
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Experienced Angelo Mathews brought all his experience into the game during Sri Lanka’s series win over Bangladesh away from home. He finished as the highest run-scorer in the series with 344 runs in two Tests which included two centuries.
Fast bowler Asitha Fernando finished as the highest wicket-taker in ICC World Test Championship Series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He took three wickets in the only innings bowled by Sri Lanka in the first match. In the second game, however, he came back with 10 wickets in a match that ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides. He completed his first five-wicket haul with the wicket of Taijul Islam and finished with the final wicket with career-best figures of 6/51 which helped Sri Lanka win. He was duly awarded the Player of the Match for his ten-wicket haul.
Fernando took 13 wickets to his name, but more importantly, he also emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the ICC World Test Championship series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
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Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was also nominated for the award after his remarkable performance against Sri Lanka.
Despite the loss, it was a memorable series for Rahim. He finished as the second-highest run-scorer with 303 runs and, like Mathews, had two centuries to show for his efforts. In the opening Test, he also became the first Bangladesh player to score 5000 Test runs. His 105 in the first Test helped Bangladesh take a lead of 68 runs. However, his second century of the series came in more difficult conditions.
Two Pakistan stars – Bismah Maroof and Tuba Hasan – and 17-year-old Trinity Smith, who comes from the jersey, have been nominated for the ICC Women’s Player of the Year for May 2022.
Tuba Hasan, in his first outing on the international stage against Sri Lanka, received the ‘Player of the Series’ award after finishing as the highest wicket-taker for his side.
It was a dream debut for Hasan, who won the player of the match title in the first T20I. She bowled the second ball of her first over to Anoushka Sanjeevani and then dismissed Anoushka Sanjeevani and Kavisha Dilhari and finished with figures of 3/8 on debut.
She took a wicket each in the next two matches and was economical in her spell, conceding only 13 and 23 runs respectively in her entire spell of four overs.
Captain Bismah Maroof led from the front in the T20I series and finished as the highest run-scorer with 65 runs from three matches. In all three games, when her team was upset, she went out. His innings of 28 runs in 32 balls in the first match touched the victory distance for Pakistan. In the remaining two matches, he made sure he batted till the end to take his team home.
In the second game, she played a fine second fiddle for Ayesha Naseem of 22 not out off 29 balls. In the final match, Maroof took a brace off the final ball to take his team home in a crunch encounter. Although he only scored an unbeaten 15 off 15, he won the player of the match award for his crucial innings.
Like Tuba Hassan, Trinity Smith of the jersey also made her debut last month and already finds herself in the shortlist for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month.
The 17-year-old all-rounder made his debut in a quadrangular series against France which also featured Spain and Austria. He did not get a chance to bat but took a wicket on debut.
At the first opportunity he got to bat, he scored an unbeaten 59 off just 43 balls and later scored 2/18 in four overs with a moderate pace of his right arm. In Jersey’s final game of the series, he also took another half-century (56 not out in 40 balls) and a wicket. Jersey ended the series unbeaten with four wins out of four.
Smith played a key role in the series, scoring 120 runs with the bat at a strike rate of 136.36 and taking four wickets in as many matches at an economy of 6.58.
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