Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Women’s all-rounder Ellyse Perry bowled the best spell in Women’s Premier League (WPL) history on Tuesday (Mar 12).
Perry finished with the figures of 6/15 against Mumbai Indians (MI) to help her team qualify for the playoffs of 2024 season. She also scored 40 unbeaten runs in RCB’s 114-run chase and deservingly won the Player of the Match award.
Choosing to bowl first after winning the toss in New Delhi, MI were off to a good start, scoring 43/1 in the powerplay before Perry ran amok through MI batting line-up. She dismissed Sajeevan Sajana and Harmanpreet Kaur on consecutive balls in the ninth over of the innings.
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In her next over, she again took two back-to-back wickets sending Amelia Kerr and Amanjot Kaur, bringing Mumbai down to 5/73 at midway. In her last over of the spell, Perry again two wickets, dismissing Pooja Vastrakar and and Nat-Sciver Brunt on third and last ball of the 13th over to crush MI. Have a look at some of the wickets below:
After Perry’s sensational spell, MI couldn’t do much and folded out for 113 in 19 overs. During the chase, RCB had some hiccups, losing three wickets for 39 runs in 6.1 overs before Perry and Richa Ghosh added unbeaten 76 runs for the fourth wicket. The partnership took RCB home in 15 overs and into the playoffs.
With eight points in eight games, RCB sit third in the playoff and will be playing the second-placed team in the points table in the eliminator on March 15. RCB could end up playing second-placed MI again in the eliminator if Delhi either win their last game against Gujarat Giants on Wednesday (Mar 13) or lose by a lower margin to keep the net run rate higher than Mumbai.
The top-place finisher in the group stage will directly secure a place in the final, scheduled to be played on March 19.