Cricket News: Jonny Bairstow and Marizanne Kapp were named ICC player of the month

Marizanne Kapp rightfully earned the award owing to her excellent performance during the one-off Test match against England. She was selected for the honor following her score of 150 runs in the first innings and 43* runs in the second innings of the drawn Test against England at County Ground in Taunton, Somerset.

Marizanne Kapp spearheaded South Africa to a draw with a brilliant display of monumental individual effort, firing 26 boundaries to score 150 runs off of 213 balls to take the score from 45/4 to 276/9 in the first innings. 

In a press release issued by ICC, Alyssa Healy said, "It really means a lot for me to win the ICC Women's Player of the Month award, especially being up against two brilliant players in Shabnim Ismail and Nat Sciver."

She added, "It is definitely a highlight for me, especially with the wickets that fell at the other end and then having to bat with the tail as well; those partnerships also made it so special."

Jonny Bairstow earned the award for his brilliant performance with the bat in the recent victory of England over New Zealand in all three matches of the New Zealand Tour of England. After a slow start in the opening test, the 32-year-old right-handed batter knocked out a match-winning 136 runs off 92 balls, including 14 fours and seven sixes, to help England successfully chase the target of 299. It was the second-fastest century by an English batsman in the history of Test Cricket.

Jonny Bairstow performed well in the third test, where he scored 162 runs off 157 balls in the first innings, and 71 runs off 44 balls with an impressive strike rate of 161.36 in the second innings.

England defeated New Zealand in the first Test at Lord's by five wickets. They won the second Test at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in Nottingham by five wickets and the third Test at Yorkshire Cricket Ground in Leeds by seven wickets. The two centuries and one half-century scored by Jonny Bairstow played a crucial role in England's 3-0 victory.

After receiving the award, Jonny Bairstow said, "I would like to thank the fans for voting for me as the ICC Men's Player of the Month," Bairstow said. "It has been a great five weeks for England. It has been a positive start to our summer with four excellent wins against high-class opposition in New Zealand and India. We are enjoying our cricket as a team and playing with clarity and positivity."