Australian opener David Warner rewarded for stellar T20 World Cup show; named ICC Men's Player of the Month
Australia opener David Warner, who played a key role in the team's T20 World Cup winning campaign in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was on Monday (December 13) voted as the ICC Men's Player of the Month for November 2021.
FollowAustralian opener David Warner, who played a crucial role in the team's T20 World Cup-winning campaign in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was on Monday (December 13) voted as the ICC Men's Player of the Month for November 2021. Warner pipped Pakistan opener Abid Ali and New Zealand pacer Tim Southee for the coveted award.
David Warner bagged the Player of the Tournament at the showpiece event, following a series of stellar performances with the bat that helped the Australian team win their maiden T20 World Cup title. Warner scored 289 runs in seven matches with an average strike rate of 146.70. Four of these innings came in the period under consideration for the ICC Men's Player of the Month award, during which he smashed 209 runs at a strike rate of 151.44.
David Warner's critical innings in the T20 World Cup include a crucial half-century in the final against New Zealand, 49 runs in the semi-final clash against Pakistan, and an unbeaten 80 against West Indies in the Super 12 clash.
Russel Arnold, a voting panel member, said that David Warner was back to his scintillating best during the T20 World Cup. He added that the Australian opener's aggression at the top of the order was outstanding. "His 209 runs at a strike rate of 151 in four innings tells the story. There was no recovering from the early onslaught by Warner, and his stroke play was pleasing to the eye," Arnold added.
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In the lead up to the marquee event, David Warner endured a horrendous phase with IPL franchise SunRisers Hyderabad. Warner was not only dropped from the Playing XI of the IPL 2021, but he also lost the captaincy of SRH. The team has not retained their former skipper for the next IPL season. However, the Aussie made a remarkable turnaround in the T20 World Cup, leading from the front with the bat.
Meanwhile, West Indies' Hayley Matthews was voted the ICC Women's Player of the Month for November 2021. The 23-year-old all-rounder beat Pakistan's Anam Amin and Bangladesh's Nahida Akhter. In the four ODIs played in November, Matthews scored 141 runs and claimed nine wickets, including a thrilling 4/26 against Pakistan in Karachi. In July this year, Mathews was nominated for the coveted award, which West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor eventually clinched.
