West Indies all-rounder Matthews, UAE captain Waseem named ICC Players for April 2024

Matthews surpassed South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt and Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu for the coveted monthly award following her excellent form during the white-ball series against Pakistan.

The 26-year-old celebrated her third ICC Women's Player of the Month award after previously securing it in November 2021 and October 2023. In April, she amassed 451 runs and took 12 wickets across both white-ball formats.

West Indies began their tour of Pakistan with three ODIs, and skipper Matthews took on the hosts with a dominant display in the series opener with an unbeaten 140 and then followed it up with 3/17 with the ball.

Matthews continued to taste success by replicating her heroics in the third fixture, putting up 141 in 149 balls and taking two scalps for 26 in another comfortable victory to seal a whitewash in the ODI series.

In the T20I series, the 26-year-old became the top-ranked Women's T20I all-rounder. Back-to-back half-centuries in Karachi and six wickets at an average of 10.50 summed up her remarkable performance. She inspired the tourists to another emphatic 4-1 series triumph.

ICC Women's Player of the Month for April, Hayley Matthews said she is really happy to win the award again.

"I am really happy to win the award again. These performances resulted in the team's success and that's the most important thing for me as captain. To win in Pakistan was always a big goal. I wanted to perform well and contribute to the team's success so to be able to have performances and get the results, that was really good and showed that the hard work and the concentration in Pakistan paid off," she said, according to ICC.

"Being able to set some new records and achieve some new milestones as well was good for me so I'm extremely happy. We have confidence and we will take this with us going into the tour of Sri Lanka and look to secure more crucial points in the ICC Women's Championship," Matthews added.

While Waseem shined with his incredible scoring feat during UAE's triumph in the ACC Premier Cup. The opening batter struck 269 runs in April at an average of 44.83, which included a splendid 56-ball ton in the final showdown against the hosts, Oman. He overcame competition from Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi and Nambia's all-rounder Gerhard Erasmus to claim the monthly accolade.

Flaunting an eye-catching strike rate of 182.99 from his April performances, Waseem's explosive strokeplay was on exhibition throughout the UAE's campaign.

A brisk 65 against Bahrain was followed up by smashing 45 and 48 against Oman and Cambodia respectively, before his fireworks against Oman secured a comfortable 55-run victory for UAE. "It is a great honour to win the ICC Men's Player of the Month award. I am thrilled to join a distinguished list of award winners from around the world. The award is a big motivation for players especially those from emerging cricket teams like the UAE. Last month, our goal in the ACC Premier Cup in Oman was to qualify for next year's Asia Cup and I am proud of my team and their performance in the tournament," Waseem said.

"At a personal level I am happy that I led the team from the front especially in the final. Scoring a century in a big game is indeed a special moment, especially when it helps the team to victory. I look forward to our preparations for the Asia Cup and my aim is to continue to deliver for the team with the bat and lead by example in these exciting times for UAE cricket," he added. (ANI)