ICC Player of the Month: Veteran Angelo Mathews brought all his experience to bear in Sri Lanka’s series win against Bangladesh away from home. He finished as the series’ top scorer with 344 runs in two Tests that included two centuries. FFollow ICC Player of the Month updates with InsideSport.IN
In the opening innings of the first Test, he came agonizingly close to what would have been his second double century if he hadn’t been caught slurping while on 199. Sri Lanka has posted 397 on the back of their shot but Bangladesh managed to take the initiative. The match ultimately ended in a stalemate.
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In Game 2, he racked up another century and went undefeated on 145 in the opening innings. Bangladesh had posted 365 runs in the opening innings and Sri Lanka were struggling at 164/4, but Mathews stitched up a 102-run stand with Dhananjaya de Silva and then added 199 runs with Dinesh Chandimal.
A century in the first Test ✅
A century in the second ✅Angelo Mathews🔥 #WTC23 | #BANvSL | https://t.co/7KXvVIR736 pic.twitter.com/OI0b5R6bGi
— ICC (@ICC) May 26, 2022
The partnerships helped Sri Lanka take a 141-point lead, which Bangladesh found unable to conquer.
His brilliant performances were reflected in the latest MRF Tires ICC Men’s Player Rankings update where he jumped six spots to No. 15 in the Test batting charts.
Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh
It was a memorable streak for Mushfqur Rahim despite his losing ending. He finished second with 303 runs and, like Mathews, had two centuries to show for his efforts. In the opening test, he also became the first player from Bangladesh to score 5000 tests.
ICC Player of the Month: Angelo Matthews, Mushfiqur Rahim and Asitha Fernando NAMED for Player of the Month
Dinesh Karthik congratulates Mushfiqur Rahim on his historic achievement | The ICC review
His 105 in the first test helped Bangladesh take a 68-point lead. However, his second ton of the series came under more trying circumstances.
Bangladesh were 16/3 when Mushfiqur came on to bat and soon the scoreboard showed 24/5. It looked like Sri Lanka was going through the Tigers, but he and Liton Das were holding the fort together. The two scored a century each and made 272 runs for the sixth wicket as Bangladesh finished with a solid 365.
Unfortunately, Mushfiqur’s incredible innings of 175* came in a losing cause. However, he moved up eight places in the ICC Test Batters rankings to No. 17.
Asitha Fernando, Sri Lanka
Asitha Fernando finished as the top wicket taker in the ICC World Test Championship series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He picked up three wickets in the first game of the only inning played by Sri Lanka.
ICC Player of the Month: Angelo Matthews, Mushfiqur Rahim and Asitha Fernando NAMED for Player of the Month
In the second game, however, he came back with 10 wickets in a game that ultimately proved to be the difference between the two teams.
A superb performance by Asitha Fernando to claim the Player of the Match 💥
It is only the second time that a Sri Lankan pacer has won 10 wickets in an away Test.#BANvSL | #WTC23 pic.twitter.com/xRGUNwAFZI
— ICC (@ICC) May 27, 2022
Fernando represented the wickets for the experienced duo of Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque at the start of the Bangladesh collapse. He picked up two more wickets to help clear the lineup to finish with a four for.
In the second set, Fernando was unplayable. He scalped the openers early on to put Bangladesh on their backs. Liton and Shakib held off with a fifty apiece but he quickly got rid of both set hitters.
He completed his first five with the wicket of Taijul Islam and finished with a career-best 6/51 with the last wicket that gave Sri Lanka the win. He was duly awarded Player of the Match for his ten-wicket match.
ICC Player of the Month: Angelo Matthews, Mushfiqur Rahim and Asitha Fernando NAMED for Player of the Month
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