Perry sets new benchmark after incredible bowling return

source : www.cricket.com.au

Champion all-rounder continues to find new ways to take her game to the next level as Sixers revive their season in Perth

Only Ellyse Perry could take five wickets in almost four months in her first spell, dismissing it as “beginner’s luck”.

Perry almost single-handedly revived the Sydney Sixers’ Weber WBBL|09 campaign on Sunday as she took a career-best 5-22 and hit an unbeaten 44 against Melbourne Renegades at the WACA Ground.

It was the first time the 33-year-old had bowled a match since the first Ashes ODI in Bristol in mid-July, with her recovery from a knee injury preventing her from playing the ball against the West Indies last month, or in domestic cricket until now this summer.

Perry got off to a perfect start when she holed Tammy Beaumont on her first delivery, then removed Jess Duffin who was behind before bowling a peach of a delivery by Georgia Prestwidge.

She also rattled the stumps of Georgia Wareham and then completed her first five-wicket haul in T20 cricket when Suzie Bates held on to a running catch in the deep to dismiss Ella Hayward.

Perry takes a career-best 5-fa in bowling returns

“It’s been a while since I’ve bowled and it’s nice to contribute as much as I can to the team. It just went my way today, probably beginner’s luck,” Perry told Channel Seven.

“But it was nice to bowl again.”

Sunday’s haul eclipsed her previous best T20 figures of 4-12 against India in 2016, and saw Perry set a unique record in the process, as she became the first woman to score both a century and haul five wickets in total. three sizes.

She also quietly passed a major batting milestone as she anchored the Sixers’ run chase and became the second player to pass 4,000 WBBL runs behind Beth Mooney.

Perry has radically reinvented her T20 batting over the past 18 months, developing herself into a much faster striker and reclaiming her place in the Australian XI after being left on the sidelines during the Commonwealth Games.

In the build-up to this season she had indicated she wanted to do the same with her bowling and the early signs from Sunday are promising – not just because of her numbers but also because of her pace, with Perry clocked at 118 km/h.

“That might have been the Fremantle Doctor,” a typically modest Perry said of her extra speed.

“I’ve been doing some work, especially with (assistant coach) Scotty Prestwidge in the Aussie set-up and I suppose having the chance to work on that over the last few months without playing as a bowler has been really nice. It’s cool.

“But I’m not naive, since I’ve been around for a while, you have good days and bad days.

“So it’s nice to have something coming my way and I’ve learned some things lately, but I’m sure I have some challenges ahead as well.”

Perry dominates with a bat that follows a series of wickets

The Sixers picked up their second win from seven matches as they took home seven wickets against the struggling Renegades to move from bottom to sixth in the table.

They will hope to carry that momentum into their next meeting with another runaway side, the Melbourne Stars, at Ringwood on Wednesday.

In WBBL|01, the Sixers famously adopted ‘going vertical’ as their mission as they recovered from an 0-6 start to eventually reach the first final.

This season they face a similar uphill battle, but this time the tagline is a little different.

“Maybe apparently we’re going ‘up the waterspout’ — that’s the new one,” Perry said.

“Erin Burns has a son, Jack, and she sang him some nursery rhymes.

“And I think one that rings true for us is Incy Wincy Spider, so hopefully we’ll get into the waterspout.

“We played some pretty good cricket and I can’t fault anyone in the group, the energy and positivity was there all the time.

“We enjoyed each other’s company (and) the girls’ commitment to training and tactical preparation for competitions was perfect.

“It’s just a matter of confidence but in this format you have to pick it up and we’re learning that as we go and hopefully it’s a bit of a kickstarter for us today.”

Weber WBBL|09 Standings

Team	Matches played M	wins W	To lose L	Net execution rate NRR	Point total PTS
1 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	7	5	2	1,163	10
2 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	6	5	1	0.368	10
3 Sydney Thunder women DO	5	4	1	1,506	8
4 Perth Scorchers women SCO	7	4	3	0.808	8
5 Hobart Hurricanes Women HOW	6	3	3	-0.923	6
6 Sydney Sixers women SIX	7	2	5	-0.516	4
7 Melbourne Star Women STA	7	2	5	-1,597	4
8 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	7	1	6	-0.389	2