Australia is growing more confident that “ultimate professional” Ellyse Perry will be able to play in Sunday’s Women’s T20 World Cup final at Lord’s against bitter rivals England.
During Tuesday’s eight-wicket semi-final annihilation of the West Indies at the Oval, all-rounder Perry retired due to a quad injury.
However, the 35-year-old was put through a number of running drills and a long bat in the nets during Friday’s training session.
Perry, who rose to prominence as a young fast bowler, has been more adept at batting in recent years. Her 56 at Lord’s last week helped Australia reach a T20 World Cup record chase of 171, which eliminated India from the competition.
Perry, who is regarded as one of the greatest women’s cricketers of all time, may participate in the final even if she is not fully fit, according to Australia coach Shelley Nitschke’s suggestion on Thursday.
Perry’s Australia team-mate Phoebe Litchfield, however, was quoted by AFP as saying on Friday: “Pez is great. She’s prepping really well and she’s the ultimate professional.
“She had a total wellness day yesterday (Thursday), apparently, just getting everything right. The body’s a temple for Pez, so it’s nice to see her back around the group today and moving really well.
“As you can all imagine, she wants to be out there on Sunday and is doing everything in her ability to do that, which is the true professional that she is.”
Prior to the final, both Australia and England had won all six of their matches. However, Australia will be the favorites to reclaim the championship they lost in the United Arab Emirates in 2024 as they aim for a record-extending seventh T20 World Cup.
They have held the muti-format women’s Ashes since 2015, stunning England with a 16-0 whitewash series win in Australia 18 months ago.
Australia has won numerous trophies over the previous ten years, but it has been nine years since England last triumphed in a major international competition, defeating India in an exciting 50-over World Cup final at Lord’s in front of a packed house.
In the semi-final at the Oval on Thursday, England defeated South Africa by 40 runs because of the batting prowess of Heather Knight, who captained the team in 2017.
After England had fallen to 23-3, Knight scored 58 and shared a crucial fourth-wicket partnership of 133 with current captain and fellow 2017 World Cup champion Nat Sciver-Brunt (75).
Danni Wyatt-Hodge is the only other survivor of that special day currently playing for England, with Knight saying: “I think we’ll draw on (2017) a little bit. Playing in the home World Cup is quite unique and me, Nat and Danni are the only people that have done that. This is a very fresh-faced team. We play cricket in our own way. But I like playing in finals there. They’re good fun. Playing at Lord’s is always very special.”
Knight, 35, added: “Hopefully we can deal with the big occasion and really just try and enjoy it. We’ll just try and bring our best and hopefully bring that trophy home.”
