
Sports Bulletin Report
Dubai (UAE): South Africa batter Aiden Markram and fast bowler Kagiso Rabada have been nominated for the ICC Player of the Month awards, joining Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka on the men's shortlist, while for the women’s award, the candidates include West Indies players Hayley Matthews and Afy Fletcher, along with South Africa's Tazmin Brits.
Markram and Rabada were the stars of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final while Nissanka’s fine form in the two-Test series against Bangladesh helped him edge ahead of other performers. The women’s shortlist is based primarily on performances during South Africa’s tour of the West Indies.
Aiden Markram (SA): The 30-year-old opening batter was the Player of the Match in the ICC WTC Final against Australia at Lord’s as South Africa won their first ICC title since the Champions Trophy in 1998. He struck a solid 136 off 207 balls and featured in a 147-run third wicket stand with captain Temba Bavuma as South Africa chased a target of 282 with five wickets in hand. Markram also chipped in with a wicket in each innings including that of Steve Smith in the first innings.
Kagiso Rabada (SA): Rabada grabbed nine wickets at an average of 12.22 in the WTC Final – his figures reading five for 51 and four for 59. The formerly top-ranked Test bowler struck important blows to ensure that Australia did not get big starts - dismissing opener Usman Khawaja and number three batter Cameron Greene cheaply in both innings.
Pathum Nissanka (SL): The 27-year-old opener set the platform for a huge first innings score in the drawn first Test in Galle, knocking up 187 and featuring in an important second wicket stand with Dinesh Chandimal. He then struck 158 in the second Test in Colombo as the home side defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 78 runs. Nissanka was named the Player of the Match as well as the Player of the Series for his aggregate of 369 runs in the two-Test WTC series.
Tazmin Brits (SA): The South Africa opener had a memorable tour of the Caribbean, showing fine form in both ODIs and T20Is. She struck 184 runs at a strike rate of 87.61 in three ODIs including a 101 off 91 balls in the final match. In the subsequent T20I series, she scored 132 runs at a strike rate of 122.22 which included a 98 not out from 63 deliveries in the first match.
Hayley Matthews (WI): The West Indies skipper scored 104 runs in the three ODIs against South Africa, including a half-century in the third match. She also chipped in with four wickets. She then elevated her performances in T20Is, scoring 147 runs at a strike-rate of 120.49, with two half-centuries. Matthews also grabbed two wickets. She was named the Player of the Series in the T20Is as the West Indies won 2-1.
Afy Fletcher (WI): The leading wicket-taker in both the ODI and T20I series against South Africa, the 38-year-old leg-spinner finished with nine wickets in ODIs during June, which included one in a preceding series in England. Her eight wickets in the series against South Africa included a four-wicket haul in the second ODI and three in the final match. She also scored a total of 30 runs in these ODIs. In the T20Is, she claimed five wickets from three outings at an economy rate of 6.75.