NEW DELHI: Ellyse Perry is priceless for the team she represents, utterly valuable for the captain she plays under. The skills the Australian executes on the field are exquisite and rare in women’s cricket. She is one of the few in the history of women’s cricket to play the game as a proper pace-bowling allrounder. By that it’s to be understood that she can walk into any team purely as a batter or purely as a pace bowler. She is the Ben Stokes of women’s cricket.
On Tuesday, in front of a near full-house Kotla, Perry created history during the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians by registering the best-ever bowling figures (6/15) in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which led RCB to an easy seven-wicket win.
The Mumbai batters were all at sea as RCB, powered by Perry’s super show, bowled them out for a paltry 113. The record for the previous best bowling figures was in the name of South African Marizanne Kapp (5/15 vs Gujarat Giants in 2023).
Perry’s bowling on the day was a sight to behold. She targeted the stumps and got the ball to nip back from just outside the offstump. In her six-wicket demolition job, Perry got four bowled and two LBW dismissals.
After Sophie Devine got RCB’s first wicket in the form of Hayley Matthews, it was a Perry show thereafter. The Aussie star got the ball to jag back from outside off as Sajeevan Sajana’s airy waft found no connection and the ball crashed into the off-stump.
The biggest scalp of the match came off the very next ball. MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur dragged the ball onto her stumps as the RCB girls went delirious.
Perry’s stellar show didn’t stop there. She picked up two more wickets in her next over. Amelia Kerr got the same delivery that Sajana received, the only difference being the ball thudding into the pads. The umpire ruled it not out but when RCB reviewed, the batter turned out to be out.
Amanjot Kaur was Perry’s fourth victim. A classic off-cutter that nipped back and shattered the stumps much before the batter’s bat came down.
In her final over, Perry completed her five-wicket haul when she uprooted Pooja Vastrakar’s off-stump. Soon after she got the big wicket of Nat Sciver-Brunt.
Perry (40 not out off 38 balls; 5x4s, 1x6) then starred with bat too, taking RCB over the line for a 7-wicket win.
The victory booked RCB a spot in the Eliminator (on Friday) with Mumbai being the most likely opposition.
BRIEF SCORES: MI 113 in 19 overs (S Sajana 30; E Perry 6/15) lost to RCB 115/3 in 15 overs (E Perry 40*, R Ghosh 36*)
