Top Five Players of the Week (July 23-29)

A total of three ODIs were played in this week. Two ODIs between the Windies and Bangladesh and one between Sri Lanka and South Africa. Also, the final Test match between Sri Lanka and South Africa concluded in this week. The major part of the test match was played preceding to the week covered in this article, but as it concluded on 23 July, it has been covered here. This article covers the top five performances from these series.

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5. DIMUTH KARUNARATNE:

Karunaratne was awarded as the Man of the Series against South Africa

Continuing his fine form from the first test, Karunaratne made two half-centuries in the second test match against South Africa. He scored 53 runs in the first innings and another 85 runs in the second innings, for which he was adjudged as the Man of the Match.

He was the highest run-getter in the two Test match series, scoring 356 runs at an average of 119. Since he scored these runs in tough batting conditions, he was rightly chosen as the Man of the Series. Sri Lanka won the series 2-0 against South Africa.

4. RANGANA HERATH:

Third highest wicket-taker in the series against South Africa

After a decent performance in the first Test against South Africa where he picked up five wickets, he picked up seven wickets in the second match which included a six-wicket haul in the second innings. He had a total of twelve wickets to his name and stood as the third highest wicket-taker in the series.

3. TAMIM IQBAL:

Was awarded as the Man of the Series against Windies

After losing the test series 2-0 against the Windies, Bangladesh proved why they are ahead of them in the ICC ODI rankings. Their batting, which did not click in the Tests, had a good outing in the ODIs.

Along with Tamim Iqbal, there were contributions from almost all the batsmen. In three ODIs, his scores were 130 not out, 54 and 103. The last two scores were made in this week.

He finished with 287 runs in the series at an average of 144. This was the highest aggregate by any batsmen in the series. Bangladesh won the series 2-1.

2. AKILA DANANJAYA:

Another wrist spinner surprising the batsmen

Akila Danajaya replaced Lakshan Sandakan in the second test match against South Africa. In the first innings itself, he rocked the South African batsmen and took a five-wicket haul, followed by two wickets in the second innings. Even after featuring in just one match, he was at the fifth position in the wicket-taking list. He also had 74 runs last-wicket partnership with Rangana Herath in the first innings, where he made undefeated 43 runs.

In the first ODI held this week between the two sides, Akila took three wickets with two back-to-back wickets of Amla and Markram in an over. He is currently at the third position in the wicket-taking list. The five-match ODI series currently is in favor of South Africa as they lead by 1-0.

1. KESHAV MAHARAJ:

Leading wicket-taker for South Africa against Sri Lanka

In the first test match against Sri Lanka, Maharaj had the support of Shamsi from the other end, but since the South African batsmen failed to perform against the Sri Lankan spinners, they decided to play with an extra batsman in the second test. Therefore, they picked Bruyn in place of Shamsi for the second test with only one full-time spinner in Maharaj.

As it was a spinning track, South African bowling was much dependent on Maharaj's bowling and he did not disappoint his team as he picked up nine wickets in the first innings followed by three wickets in the second innings. His figures of 9/129 are the best-ever by a Proteas spinner since their re-admission into cricket.

Unfortunately, South Africa lost the test series 2-0.