The latest episode of ‘Cricket Ka Queendom’ saw two of the most decorated franchises of the TATA WPL take on each other. The Mumbai Indians were up against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Arun Jaitley stadium at New Delhi. And it was a complete Ellyse Perry show all the way.
It was the RCB Women who won the toss & they asked the girls from Mumbai to bat first. It was Ellyse Perry who took charge with both the bat & the ball. Firstly, she made the ball talk with her fiery nip-backers and made the Mumbai batters dance to her tunes. Perry, with her six wicket haul (6 for 15) restricted the Mumbai Indians to a modest total of 113.
Mumbai Indians were off to a good start with their top order batters producing a clinic. Openers, Hayley Matthews and S Sajana added 43 runs together. However the Mumbai innings soon had to deal with breakthroughs as Perry provided a masterpiece with her seam bowling. First she crashed the ball onto the off stump and got rid of Sajeevan Sajana (30 off 21). Perry stunned the crowd with the next delivery, as Harmanpreet Kaur (0 off 1) played on a delivery from around the fifth-stump line which ended up hitting the stumps. Perry had her chances to grab the hat-trick but Amelia Kerr with the bat didn’t make it happen.
Kerr couldn’t survive in front of Perry’s pace for too long. In the very next over by Ellyse Perry, Kerr (2 off 5) came down the pitch but was beaten on the inside edge by the one that angled in. The not-out decision was reviewed and the Mumbai Indians all-rounder found plumb in front.
Next up was Amanjot Kaur who smashed her first delivery towards the fence for a four. But another nip-backer from Perry cost the Mumbai Indians the wicket of Amanjot Kaur (4 off 2). It was a deja-vu for Perry when Pooja Vastrakar (6 off 10) managed to get a boundary off one of her deliveries and then got dismissed to a crashing off-stump delivery by Ellyse Perry the very next ball.
Perry added the finishing touches as she trapped Mumbai’s Nat-Sciver Brunt (10 off 15) with an immaculate delivery.
As Ellyse Perry took 6 wickets and continued to rattle the stumps. Mumbai Indians stuttered and lost their last nine wickets for just 48 runs.
In the 1st innings it was Perry with the ball, in the 2nd innings it was Perry with the bat. The opening pair for the RCB didn’t fire much. In came Ellyse Perry and took charge. She alongside Richa Ghosh maintained the score rate and stitched a fantastic partnership.
The Perry-Ghosh duo combined for nine fours and three sixes, securing RCB’s position in the Eliminator. It was a career best 6 wicket haul for Ellyse Perry. Perry managed to pile 40 runs off 38 deliveries and remained unbeaten at the end of the game. Her innings with the bat included 5 fours and a six.
RCB had an upper hand in the feisty duel as they won by 7 wickets and managed to secure a spot in the eliminator. Perry and Co. will now play on Friday after their opponents will be finalised after today’s game between the Delhi Capitals and the Gujarat Giants.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye.
