Ellyse Perry, the world's leading all-rounder in women's cricket, slammed a superb century on Monday (September 9) to help Australia Women to beat West Indies Women by a massive 151 runs in the second One Day International to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series in Antigua.
After dominating Women’s Ashes with both bat and ball to help Australia to retain the urn in England, Perry, who has been unbeatable for a few years now, continued her golden run with the bat in the ongoing ODI series, as she posted her highest ODI score - 112* off 118 balls to help his team to post 308 for 2 in 50 overs against West Indies. In reply, the hosts could manage only 157 for 8 in Antigua.
Following the Man-of-the-Match show, the 28-year-old was delighted to contribute in team’s cause especially in the absence of regular skipper Meg Lanning, who had been ruled out of the game due to back spasms. She also lauded team efforts as Alyssa Healy (58), Ashleigh Gardner (57*) and, Beth Mooney (56) have played supporting roles with a half-century each to help Australia post a massive total.
Perry told reporters after the match, “It's nice, it was cool to contribute today. It was a real shame with Meg going down before the game, but that gave other people an opportunity and everyone stood up. I enjoyed my time in the middle today, but I think there were some great contributions [all round].”
The right-hander came to bat at the fall of the first wicket in the 10th over, and she batted for nine fours during her 118-ball stay in hot and humid conditions, as well as, bowled a tight spell, conceding just three runs while taking the wicket of Stacy-Ann king.
The all-rounder added, “It was fine, at the start I was a bit mentally AWOL. I was a bit lucky, to be fair, getting dropped early, but that seemed to wake me up a bit.”
She also revealed her love for his bat, revealing: “I just sleep with it next to me, and it's a really good spooning partner at night, we're pretty close, my bat and I.”
Perry signed off by saying, “Every now and then, I need to do some running repairs, and I've been trying to find something to make my bat a little bit lighter, which I haven't been able to do. So, I take it home and never do anything with it in the end.”
(With ICC inputs)
