Ellyse Perry produced another memorable performance to ensure a playoff qualification for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League 2024 on Tuesday.
The legendary Australian all-rounder took six wickets and then smashed an unbeaten 40 runs to help RCB beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in their last league game. A win ended the three-way race for the last playoff spot with UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants missing out.
Perry has been exceptional in WPL 2024 with 246 runs in seven innings at an amazing average of 61.5 and a strike rate of 130.15 with a fifty against UP Warriorz. RCB have recorded four wins in eight league games with the likes of Perry, Smriti Mandhana and youngster Richa Ghosh producing moments of brilliance.
Ghosh, 20, is enjoying a successful tournament with 226 runs at a strike rate of 152.7. The young wicketkeeper has already made 44 T20I appearances for the Indian team but is to make a big impact on international cricket.
Perry praised Richa and her contribution to the team this edition after the team secured playoff qualification. She highlighted her 'phenomenal' wicketkeeping skills and predicted a bright future for the youngster in international cricket.
"She (Richa) is amazing, I absolutely love her, she is always smiling, laughing," Perry said during the media interaction on Wednesday. "She contributes so much to the team. She is so supportive of her team and plays phenomenal behind the stumps. She has affected so many key moments across by stumping and catching and then with the batting. Scary to think that she is so young because I think she got an amazingly bright future ahead of her, not just in WPL but also in International cricket when she plays India."
Perry also pointed out a positive atmosphere in the RCB dressing room and said that the amazing crowd at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium for RCB games made it 'super special'.
"In the dressing room and as well as on the field there has been lots of smiles and huge focus to just go out there and enjoy because it's a pretty special tournament and the crowd has been amazing from five matches which were super special and now being here in Delhi is just been a really great chance for the group to spend more time together," Perry added.
