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This is the second time that Chamari Athapaththu has won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award in 2024, having previously won the honour in May.
Sri Lanka’s talismanic captain Chamari Athapaththu won the ICC Women’s Player of the Month title for July 2024, beating India’s star openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.
July was a productive month for the southpaw as she set a new record. Atapattu led Sri Lanka to their first ever Women’s Asia Cup 2024 title by defeating seven-time champions India that month.
This is the 34-year-old’s third International Cricket Council Women’s Player of the Month award, making her the joint second most successful cricketer in the Women’s Player of the Month category, tied with West Indies’ Hayley Matthews on three and second only to Australia’s Ashley Gardner (who won four times).
She said: “I am delighted and honoured to be named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for the third time. It is gratifying that my hard work has been recognised and continues to be acknowledged by the cricket community with the support of my teammates and coaches.”
“I am sure these recognitions will send a positive message to the thousands of girls in our country and other countries who play cricket and want to play for their country; that commitment and dedication to the sport will one day be rewarded.”
The win is another recent feat for Atapattu. In the past 12 months, Sri Lanka has achieved several milestones under her leadership, including first-ever T20I series wins over England and South Africa.
Sri Lanka also participated in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2024 in Abu Dhabi from April to May 2024 and won all the matches to qualify for the global mega event in October.
But the focus in July was on Atapattu’s contribution to the historic Women’s Asian Cup triumph.
She played a key role in the team’s unbeaten run in the tournament. In Sri Lanka’s first match against Bangladesh, Atapattu scored just 12 points but responded with a brilliant performance, scoring a career-high 119 against Malaysia.
He remained unbeaten on 49* in the final group match against Thailand, before scoring back-to-back 50s and winning matches against Pakistan (63) and India (61) in the semi-final and final of the tournament respectively.
Her total of 304 runs at a strike rate of 146.85 was enough to earn her the Player of the Tournament award, but the captain also batted three times, including in the final against India.
(icc.com)
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