Following Pakistan’s Nida Dar on the list of Player of the Month award is none other than a teammate, Sidra Ameen. The 30-year-old has outshined Ireland’s Gaby Lewis and Thailand’s Natthakan Chantham for the International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded, Player of the Month award for November.
The Ireland women’s team recently were on their first-ever tour of Pakistan and the series saw the two sides compete over 3 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and as many Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). While, Ireland claimed the T20I series, 2-1, it was Pakistan who handed an ODI series whitewash to Ireland on the back of Sidra Ameen’s heroics.
The veteran opener, Sidra Ameen, in the 3-match series, finished unbeaten on 2 occasions and accumulated as many as 277 runs at an average of 277.00, a strike rate of 104.13 and with a fifty and a hundred to her name, got her series underway by registering a career-best score of 176*.
🇵🇰Pakistan opener Sidra Ameen has won the Women’s Player of the Month award for November 2022#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/Yc9IN1Nnnu
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 12, 2022
Sidra in the series opener, smashed an unbeaten, 151-ball 176 at a strike rate of 116.56, and her knock included as many as 20 boundaries as a lone maximum. She did well to carry the same momentum to the second ODI as she backed her 176* with yet another fine 91* off 93 balls while chasing a target of 195, but failed to close out the series on a high as she departed for a 22-ball 10 in the 3rd ODI.
ICC Player of the Month in 2022:
🏴Jan- Heather Knight
🇳🇿Feb- Amelia Kerr
🇦🇺March- Rachael Haynes
🇦🇺April- Alyssa Healy
🇵🇰May- Tuba Hassan
🇿🇦June- Marizanne Kapp
🏴July- Emma Lamb
🇦🇺Aug- Tahlia McGrath
🇮🇳Sep- Harmanpreet Kaur
🇵🇰Oct- Nida Dar
🇵🇰Nov- Sidra Ameen#CricketTwitter— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 12, 2022
Pakistan’s 3-0 series win got a touch special for Sidra Ameen on a personal level as her excellent run of form with the bat reflected in her ICC ranking rise which now sees her ranked 22nd and also happens to be the highest-ranked Pakistan batter on the list.
Sidra Ameen on receiving the award had the following to say, “I feel great to have won this award. It is also special following my teammate Nida Dar who won the award for October. This shows our team has displayed some great performances in the past few months in international cricket. I would like to dedicate this award to my parents and to everyone who has always supported me and prayed for my success.
“My performance with the bat against Ireland which helped the side claim the sweep over Ireland in the ODI series at home will always remain close to my heart. Individually, this year has been great for me, I have scored three ODIs centuries, and all coming this year. And to top it off, ending the year by winning the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for November is just amazing.”
ICC Hall of Famer and member of the voting panel, Lisa Sthalekar said, “When you get an opportunity to score a hundred it is a special moment, but for Sidra to go on and make it a big one, 176, and then to back it up with 91 in the very next match, this shows not only that she has the skills, but she has the temperament.”
(Quotes sourced from ICC Media Release )