Sri Lankan women's cricket captain Chamari Athapaththu has been named the ICC Women's Player of the Month for September. This is the first time that a Sri Lankan woman cricketer has won the award.

Athapaththu had a stellar month of September, scoring 216 runs in six matches at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 120.83. She also hit two half-centuries, including a match-winning 80 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup final.

In addition to her batting exploits, Athapaththu also led Sri Lanka to a 3-0 series win over Bangladesh. She took five wickets in the series, including a three-wicket haul in the second ODI.

Athapaththu's performance in September has helped her to rise to the top of the ICC Women's ODI rankings for batters. She is now the first Sri Lankan woman to hold the top ranking in ODIs.

The ICC Women's Player of the Month award is given to the player who has performed the best in all three formats of the game in the previous month. Athapaththu's performances in ODIs and T20Is in September saw her beat off competition from Australia's Beth Mooney and England's Nat Sciver to win the award.