Australia legend Ellyse Perry has made history, making her seventh Women’s T20 World Cup final appearance on Sunday (July 5) against England at Lord’s, going joint-top with her long-time former teammate Alyssa Healy. No other woman in the world can boast of playing in as many as seven T20 summit clashes of the format.
Perry was doubtful about starting the game. She retired hurt during Australia’s semi-final victory over West Indies after experiencing ‘minor quad awareness’. Before the match, head coach Shelley Nitschke indicated that the all-rounder could feature even if she was not at 100 percent.
“Yeah, potentially,” Nitschke said when asked whether Perry could play without being fully fit. “I think there are still certain things that she wants
to be able to do as well, [to] be able to still contribute to the team and hold her own, whether that’s in the field or running between the wickets. But there is that element of, this is a World Cup final, so what’s our tolerance there? So certainly a slightly different lens than perhaps some other times.”
Australia captain Sophie Molineux said Perry ‘pulled up really well’ before the match.
“We’re going to have a bowl. Beautiful day out here, and yeah, we want to get out here, have a run around, and hopefully put some pressure on them early…. I don’t think the pitch would change too much. We’ve got no changes. So yeah, Pez (Perry) pulled up really well from her training yesterday, and yeah, very excited to come out here,” she said.
Playing 11s
Australia: Georgia Voll, Beth Mooney (WK), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Nicola Carey, Sophie Molineux (C), Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton
England: Amy Jones (WK), Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Nat Sciver-Brunt (C), Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Freya Kemp, Danielle Gibson, Charlotte Dean, Linsey Smith, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Bell
