Wanindu Hasaranga, Ashleigh Gardner win ICC 'Player of the Month' award for June

Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and Australian womens team allrounder Ashleigh Gardner were on Tuesday named ICCs Player of the Month for their impressive performances in JuneHasaranga clinched the award following his recordbreaking feats at the World Cup Qualifier games in ZimbabweWomens Ashes hero Ashleigh Gardner becomes the first player to win three PlayeroftheMonth accoladesBoth players were selected as the standout performers following a vote conducted among a specialist panel comprising ICC Hall of Famers former international players media representatives and global cricket fans registered at icccricketcom who had been voting since the nominees were announced last weekWith 26 wickets at an average of 10 per scalp during the calendar month Hasaranga enjoyed several highlights during the prolific period Heading into the Qualifier as one of the key threats in a strong Sri Lankan lineup the spinner started in fine fashionClaiming six wickets in the tournament opener against the UAE and following up with 513 and 579 against Oman and Ireland respectively Hasaranga became the first spinner in history to take three consecutive fivewicket hauls in ODI cricket setting Sri Lanka on course for qualification to the ICC Mens Cricket World Cup in India which starts on October 5It award comes at an important moment for Sri Lanka Cricket after we made it to the Cricket World Cup in India I am privileged and honoured to have been chosen as the ICC Mens Player of the Month Hasaranga was quoted as saying in an ICC releaseHasaranga becomes the first Sri Lanka player to win the award since Prabath Jayasuriya in July 2022Hasaranga emerged victorious from a strong field of candidates including another star performer at the Qualifier Zimbabwes Sean Williams and the Player of the Match from the ICC World Test Championship Final Australias Travis HeadAlso Read Hasaranga Head and Williams nominated for ICC Mens Player of the Month awardGardner celebrated another prize after driving Australia to early success in the ongoing Womens Ashes series Trent Bridge was the stage of Gardners success most notably with the ball spinning Australia to a comfortable 89run win to begin with a Test winShe followed up a valuable 40 in Australias first innings with a fourwicket spell to help maintain a slender advantage over the hostsDespite failing with the bat in Australias reply Gardners sensational offspin was the difference Incredible figures of eight for 66 the best figures for Australia in a womens Test included all five wickets to fall on the final dayTo win an Ashes Test match at Trent Bridge was a special moment for our team and Im happy I was able to contribute towards the win Winning a Test match overseas is one of the biggest challenges in cricket its certainly a game that we will remember for a long time to comeGardner won her third PlayeroftheMonth crown by overcoming fellow nominees Tammy Beaumont of England and Hayley Matthews of the West IndiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever