Matthews in line for ICC Player of the Month prize

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC):

West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews is one of three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for April.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s world organising body, announced yesterday that the 26-year-old Barbadian all-rounder, as well as Sri Lanka Women’s captain Chamari Athapaththu, and South Africa Women’s captain Laura Wolvaardt were the contenders for the accolade.

Matthews, a past winner of the award and the ICC Women’s Twenty20 International Player of the Year for 2023, is being considered for the monthly award after scoring 451 runs and taking 12 wickets across the two white-ball formats.

She made 325 runs at an impressive average of 162.50 and took six wickets in three ICC Women’s Championship One-day Internationals against hosts Pakistan during the month, and in the same period, she scored 126 runs at an average of 42 and claimed six wickets in the first three T20Is of the subsequent series of five against the same opponents.

Matthews also won four Player of the Match awards, two each in the ODIs and T20Is, while she also took home the Player-of-the-Series prize in the ODIs against the Pakistanis, which her side swept 3-0.

She made an undefeated 140 from 150 balls that included 15 fours and a six in the ODI series opener, and followed up with returning three for 17 from her six overs for her side to seal a 113-run win against Pakistan.

In the second ODI, Matthews took one wicket and made 44 runs, and West Indies Women grabbed a thrilling two-wicket win off the last ball, and she finished the ODI series with 141 off 149 balls, and two wickets from her eight overs.

In the T20Is that followed, she was dismissed for a rare duck in the opening match, but she bowled an economical spell of one for 14 in her allotted four overs.

Matthews made a brisk 58 in the second match and was the pick of the bowlers with three for 25, and she followed up with a 49-ball 68 and two wickets in the third T20I.

Wolvaardt, like Matthews, an opening batsman and off-spinner, is looking to claim the award for the first time at the fourth time of asking.

She showcased her exceptional form with the bat, scoring 395 runs in three ICC Women’s Championship ODIs and one T20I against the Sri Lankans, including an unbeaten 184 off 147 balls that set a record for the highest individual ODI score by a South African woman.

Athapaththu, the ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year for 2023, is also a previous winner of the monthly award, and she is being considered after scoring 406 runs and taking two wickets in six matches.

Her moment in time was her match-winning 195 not out in a record chase of 302 in the final ODI against hosts South Africa that enabled Sri Lanka to achieve a record for the highest successful run chase in women’s ODIs.