ICC Player of the Month Award Wanindu in the running

Wanindu Hasaranga 

The leg-spin bowler has 20 wickets so far in the qualifying tournament, having led the wicket-taking in the preceding home series against Afghanistan despite playing just two of those three ODIs

All-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga was nominated for the ICC Player of the Month Award for June, following his excellent returns during the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. 
Hasaranga is the tournament’s leading wicket taker, and last month took three consecutive five-wicket hauls, becoming the first bowler in 33 years to do so in ODIs, matching Waqar Younis’ efforts in 1990.   
The leg-spin bowler has 20 wickets so far in the qualifying tournament, having led the wicket-taking in the preceding home series against Afghanistan despite playing just two of those three ODIs. 

The tournament’s leading run scorer, Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams, has also been nominated, though winning this accolade would do little to soothe the pain of his team missing out on qualifying for the Cricket World Cup later this year. 
Zimbabwe, who like Sri Lanka progressed from the preliminary group stage unbeaten, needed to win one of their final two matches in the Super Six stage to progress to the final and seal a place at the World Cup. 
However, defeat to Sri Lanka and Scotland, means they will fall agonizing short, despite hosting the qualifiers and putting up big totals in the early stages of the tournament. 
Williams had been a big part of that run, scoring a whopping 600 runs in seven innings, including three centuries and a career best 174 against the United States of America. 

The third nominee for the award is Australian batsman Travis Head, who was in great form in Tests last month. 
He made a vital century against India in the World Test Championship Final, scoring 163, which helped Australia post an imposing first innings score that the Indians were not able to surpass. 
He has also scored two half-centuries in the first two Ashes Test, playing his part in Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the five-Test series. 
(SMD)