Ellyse Perry's 3 greatest spells in T20 cricket
Probably the best women's cricketer going around in modern cricket, Ellyse Perry is the kind of player who, as a captain, one would ask for.
Ellyse Perry is a complete team player and will do whatever her team requires of her. She can anchor the innings, can smack quick-fire runs when needed, and can also bowl those thunderbolts to break stubborn partnerships.
Apart from representing Australia in 308 games across formats so far, Perry also features in different women's T20 leagues and showcases her potential with both the bat and the ball.
It's her skillset and performance with both batting and bowling in equal measure that get her GOAT (Greatest of all time) shout-outs from not only her fans but her teammates as well.
Talking about T20Is, she has 1841 runs to her name in 151 matches for Australia, averaging 31.74 with the bat while taking 125 wickets in as many matches.
Ellyse Perry also became the first player (men or women) to have a century and 6-fer in her first-class, List-A, and T20 career, recently in the 2024 WPL against the Mumbai Indians (MI).
In this article, we will look at her best T20 bowling performances, where she just turned the complexion of the game with the ball in hand.
Ellyse Perry's 3 greatest spells in T20 cricket
#3 4/12 against India, Sydney, 2016
With India already taking a historic 2-0 lead in a T20I series against Australia in Australia in 2016, the pressure was on the hosts to avoid a clean sweep in the third and final T20I at Sydney.
On a sluggish surface batting first, Australia huffed and puffed to a respectable total of 136/5 thanks to a 41-ball 55-run innings from Ellyse Perry and some vital contributions from Beth Mooney and Meg Lanning.
Chasing a victory target of 137, India were comfortably placed at 94 for 3 in the 14th over, and it was all glum going for the hosts once again.
But then Perry, who was brought into her second spell, broke the Indian middle and lower order with her cutters.
She scalped some big names en route to her match-winning spell with Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana to finish her spell with figures of 4/12.
#2 3/18 against New Zealand, Bridgetown, 2010
It was Ellyse Perry once again who came to Australia’s rescue in yet another tournament final.
In the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand, Australia didn't have their best outing with the bat, as they only managed to score 106/8 on what was a sluggish wicket.
Perry, who didn't contribute with the bat, pulled things back under Australia's control, striking important New Zealand wickets in Suzie Bates, Amy Satterthwaite, and Nicola Browne.
For the Whiteferns, Sophie Devine kept the fight alive with some lusty blows, bringing down the equation to 14 from six.
Australia trusted Ellyse Perry, then a youngster, to bowl the last over. It was a mouthwatering contest, with Devine managing four consecutive twos to bring it down to five off one.
On the last ball, Perry bowled a fuller-length delivery in the blockhole, to which Devine jammed a straight drive to perfection to the long-on. However, Perry quickly obstructed the shot with her leg to deflect the ball to mid-on, and Devine could secure only a single, which means Australia won the final by a mere three-point margin.
#1 6/15 against Mumbai Indians, Delhi, WPL 2024
In a must-win game for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024, Ellyse Perry did the unimaginable.
She took a six-fer (6/15 in 4 overs) against the mighty MI batting line-up consisting of Harmanpreet Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews, and Nat Sciver-Brunt to bundle them out to a paltry score of 113 runs.
Perry used her nip-backers and wobble seam deliveries to perfection, mixing her length to astute perfection.
The pitch was not a straight-forward one, aiding pacers bowling into it, but the way Perry assessed the conditions and took full advantage of them exemplified her reading of the game.