When Ellyse Perry came out to bat in the 10th over after her 1-0-7-1 with the ball, Australia needed 116 runs from 66 balls. The required run rate went past 10. Soon, Ash Gardner became the 100th T-20I wicket of Sophie Ecclestone and Australia was reduced to 77/4 in after 10.
After facing her first two balls, she lofted debutant Gibson over extra cover in the third ball of the over while Perry skipped down the track to hit her again over long-on. After the fall of Grace Harris, Perry swept Charlie Dean for another boundary. While keeping the scoreboard running by taking singles, Perry rode on the aggressive mode from the ball one in this innings.
Sophie Ecclestone, the top-ranked bowler was sent towards the point boundary, in consecutive deliveries. 50 needed from 18. Wareham unleashed the beast and picked up 19 from Dean’s over and 11 came from 19th. Once Jonassen was caught at long-on, the fate of the match was almost sealed, If anything that could have sparked the miracle that was of three sixes from Ellyse Perry in the last three balls.
A double came in the 4th ball while Perry hit a six over mid-wicket, followed by another over Eccleston’s head. Perry’s half-century came in 27 balls though was not enough to secure victory. But the unbeaten 51 from 27 balls with a strike rate of 188 was an indication of how Perry’s batting has evolved in the last 12 months after she made a comeback in the Australian T20I XI.
After last year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games where Perry failed to find her place in the final XI, Perry has scored 340 runs with an average of 56 and most importantly her strike rate rose up to 159. Her strike rate is only 2nd highest after Grace Harris.
Ellyse Perry’s Batting After the 2018 T20I World Cup:
Period | Innings | Run | Average | Strike Rate | Boundaries | Ball/Boundaries | Best |
T20I World Cup 2018- 2022 CWC Games | 18 | 302 | 30.20 | 107.85 | 26/7 | 8.48 | 60* |
After Commonwealth Games | 10 | 340 | 56.66 | 159.62 | 36/12 | 4.43 | 75 |
In the 2020 World Cup in Australia the match against New Zealand, which Australia won by 4 runs to secure a place in the semi-final, Ellyse Perry injured her right hamstring while attempting a runout. Australia defeated South Africa in a rain-curtailed match while gaining a thumping victory over India in MCG in front of 86174 spectators.
This injury forced teary-eyed Perry to witness what skipper Meg Lanning called one of their most challenging World Cup Victory, from the dugout.
Ellsye Perry was the recurring chief in the 2018 World Cup for Australia with 9 wickets along with Ash Gardner and Megan Schutt. Perry’s 9 wickets came with an economy of less than 6 at an average of less than 10. She batted down the order most of the time, playing the finisher role, against the grains.
In the semifinal against West Indies defending 143, she bowled only two overs. And in those two overs, first, she removed Deandra Dottin, the highest run-getter for West Indies in that campaign with a giffer, followed by Campbelle.
Ellyse Perry came to bowl in the 3rd over of that match. After a couple of inswingers that Dottin defended safely, she went for a cut on the next ball but missed. The 4th one came sharply in and that cramped Dottin for the room, from a length outside off. Dottin was looking to cut but was cramped for room and she ended up chopping on.
A wicket-maiden. Perry’s 2-1-2-2, followed by a couple of wickets by Kimmince and Gardner bundled West Indies on a mere 71 runs. Perry had her revenge for the 2016 World Cup in India, where West Indies defeated Australia in the final.
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Fast forward to the 2020 World Cup in Australia. This was not the World Cup, Ellyse Perry would like to remember. She scored only 26 runs in three innings and took one wicket in 12 overs, though she was the 2nd most economical bowler in the side.
Her injury not only ruled her out of the remainder of the tournament but also forced her to sit out in Australia’s next series against the Kiwis. She was out for six months and underwent surgery as well. Luckily for her, the sporting scenarios were postponed due to the break of the Covid-19 Pandemic, which gave her time to breathe. While recovering from her previous injury, she received a minor strain in the very same hamstring, ruling her out from the ODI series as well.
The setback meant Ellyse Perry was not part of Australia’s bid to equal the all-time record of 21 consecutive ODI wins that was held by the Australian men’s team. Though Perry returned for Sydney Sixers for WBBL, it was the shadow of her. Despite being the 2nd highest scorer of her side with 390 runs, her strike rate fell below 100, for the first time since the 2017/2018 season.
She made a return in National colours with an unbeaten 23 from 16 balls at no 6 against the Kiwis in Hamilton.
Against India, she made 10 runs from 2 innings. Though she remains an integral part of the longer formats, it looked like Australia found her replacement in the shortest format. While the management depended on the likes of Delissa Kimince or Nic Carey, in the absence of Ellyse Perry, it’s the reincarnation of Tahlia McGrath which may have jeopardised Perry’s position on the side. McGrath made her T20I debut in the series against India in 2021.
In those two matches against India, where Perry failed to make any impact, McGrath chipped in with unbeaten 44 and 43 with a strike rate of more than 120 on both occasions. Coming at no 6, while Australia was in tatters, she rescued the side on both occasions. MacGrath became the Player of the Tournament. In 2021/22 WBBL too, Perry’s strike rate for Sixers was a mere 91.
Sydney Sixers ended on the bottom of the table with only 4 victories. Perry lost her place in the T20I XI against England in the Ashes in 2022 and the Commonwealth Games in 2022 as well. In the three years preceding her exclusion from the shortest format of the game, her strike rate was the lowest among the batters who scored more than 300 runs.
However, Ellyse Perry’s reincarnation began in The Hundred. Her 136 runs in 6 innings were the highest for the Phoenix. But most importantly her strike rate of 137 was the 2nd best after Sophie Devine’s 143. In that year’s WBBL too Ellyse Perry scored 408 runs with a Strike rate of 120, though not huge, it was better than the previous one.
The confidence she got from these two series was reflected in her next one against India in December 2022. In the first match, though she did not bat, in her two overs she only conceded 10 runs and picked up the key wickets of Rodrigues and Shaafali Verma.
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In the third match of the series when Australia were reduced to 5/2, Ellyse Perry came to bat in the 2nd over. She played the first two balls watchfully while sending the third through covers for a boundary. That shot was Perrysque. Indian spinners meant very little to her as she repeatedly sent Deepti Sharma and Gawakwad to the fences.
Ellyse Perry completed her half-century by picking up a double in 36 balls. Before getting out to Sarvani her 75 from 47 balls with 9 boundaries and 3 sixes played a pivotal role to reach 172, which Australia went to win by 21 runs.
Her strike rate of 159 in that match was bettered by her unbeaten 72 from 42, strike rate of 171 in the very next match. Her innings were crafted with 7 boundaries and 4 sixes while making a partnership of 94 runs in 59 balls for the 4th wicket. These two innings were enough to show that she is back and is better than ever.
Though she got limited opportunities in the lower order in Australia’s other title-winning campaign, at the T20 World Cup, her 40 from 22 balls with a strike rate of 181 against New Zealand in the opening match completed a circle. Ellyse Perry who was dropped from the T20 side in the last Ashes, shows her prowess in the T-20I’s in this year’s Ashes.
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