Precious Marange up for top ICC award

LADY Chevrons star all-rounder Precious Marange is up for what could be her biggest individual accolade after she was nominated for International Cricket Council (ICC) Player of the Month for December.

The seasoned 41-year-old Marange is up against two players from India for the top gong. She is in line to be the first female Zimbabwean cricketer to win the Player of the Month award.

ICC

Marange was nominated alongside Deepti Sharma and Jemimah Rodrigues. The Lady Chevrons star has been an integral part of the team, helping Zimbabwe win the Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Uganda in December.

It was her performance at the regional qualifier that saw her being nominated for the prestigious award.

She picked up 13 wickets in five matches and in the final against

Uganda, after the two teams had booked their respective slots at the T20 World Cup Main Qualifier, Marange shone with an incredible spell of 5/7 in four overs, including a hat-trick, as Zimbabwe registered a win.

In the two preceding games against Tanzania and Namibia that were instrumental to Zimbabwe’s qualification, Marange again starred with three-wicket hauls.

Against Tanzania, she had figures of 3/13 in 3,5 overs while against Namibia, she had figures of 3/9 in four overs. She managed to pick two scalps against Kenya, where she conceded just nine runs in three overs. The only match where Marange went wicket-less was against Botswana.

Her 13 wickets in the tournament came at a stunning economy rate of 2.85 and an average of 3.92 and was named Bowler and Player of the tournament at the qualification tournament in December.