Is there really anything that Ellyse Perry can't do on the ground? She can help win matches off her fielding alone, as India painfully experienced in the semi-final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup last year. She has time and again exhibited her batting class, and her 50-plus average in ODIs bears testimony to that. She can even weave football magic, and is the last Australian to score a goal in a FIFA World Cup quarter-final - against Sweden in 2011. (Full WPL Coverage | Schedule And Points Table)
On Tuesday (March 12, 2024) night, it was time for her bowling to do the talking. Perry rolled back the years with a sensational seam-swing performance that captivated a sizeable Delhi crowd and guided the Royal Challengers Bangalore into the Women's Premier League 2024 playoffs.
The 33-year-old snapped up six Mumbai Indians wickets for just 15 runs to reduce Harmanpreet Kaur's side to their second-lowest score in WPL. She went from being wicketless before this game to notching up the best-ever bowling figures in the tournament's history.
Though the conditions were not as seam-bowler friendly as she would expect back home or in England, there was enough in the wicket for her to work with. The seasoned campaigner adapted smartly, attacking the stumps off a good length instead of trying to land it full in the corridor outside off. The move paid rich dividends, and the Aussie all-rounder fetched all six of her wickets in the bowled or leg-before-wicket modes.
Not one to wax lyrical about her display, Perry credited luck and cricket's glorious uncertainties more than her own self. She said after the game: “Sometimes it just goes your way, doesn’t it? Sometimes, I am just getting walloped all around the ground, then some days it is like this. I really enjoyed bowling tonight, been working on it a little bit. Felt like it was suitable conditions for me, it did a little bit off the wicket. It went my way."
It sure went her way, as Perry rounded off her incredible bowling show with an unbeaten 40 off 38 balls that shepherded Bangalore's chase of the modest 114-run target. With her all-round brilliance, she single-handedly ensured that Smriti Mandhana's team marched into the knockout stage of the competition.
RCB will now most likely take on Mumbai Indians again in the Eliminator on Friday (March 15), as the Delhi Capitals have far too superior a net run rate than MI (0.918 as against 0.024). Barring a colossal DC collapse tonight against wooden-spooners Gujarat Giants, Mandhana and Kaur's teams are set for an encore to fight for a place in the final. And Perry will be eyeing a night matching the dizzying highs of yesterday.
