New Delhi:
Ellyse Perry is a cricketing superwoman. The Australian allrounder has dazzled the world with her achievements in batting and bowling across all formats. In Tests, she has an average of 45 while in ODIs, she averages a staggering 76 with the bat. With the ball, Perry has taken 145 wickets in ODIs and 31 in Tests. However, in Twenty20 Internationals, Perry has achieved what no cricketer male or female has achieved in the history of the format. On Sunday, during the second Twenty20 International between England and Australia in the Women's Ashes contest, Perry became the first cricketer on the planet to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in the shortest format of the game. Perry had already taken 100 wickets when she took the wicket of Natalie Sciver in the World T20 final in 2018. However, in the match at Hove, Perry chose to create some more history.
England chose to bat and Perry struck early as she got the wicket of Amy Jones for the fourth time in the tour. Danielle Wyatt and Natalie Sciver fell cheaply but Tammy Beaumont steadied the ship along with Heather Knight. The 38-run stand between Beaumont and Knight looked to push England towards a good score but when both fell in quick succession, England stumbled and it took an aggressive, unbeaten 17 from Sophie Ecclestone to help England reach 121/8 in 20 overs.
In response, Australia started brilliantly but lost some quick wickets. However, Perry and skipper Meg Lanning took the attack to the England bowlers. Perry smashed four boundaries and a six while Lanning was at her consistent best in this format as Australia inched closer to a win. When Perry thumped a boundary off Katherine Brunt, she became the first woman to score 1000 runs in the format and also take 100 wickets. Australia sealed the win by seven wickets and now have a 12-2 lead in the Ashes series with one match still to play on Wednesday.
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Speaking to ESPNCricinfo after the end of the game, Perry said, "I guess it's lovely, but I wasn't aware of it. I actually think in T20 cricket at the international level, we probably play it as much as the men, so I have played a pretty big volume of games now - over 100. So I suppose when you've played 100 games you might get close to it. That's probably the only reason I'm there - because I've played a lot of games," Perry said.
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Former Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi (1416 runs and 98 wickets) could have almost achieved the feat but Bangladesh's Shakib al Hasan, with 1471 runs and 88 wickets, stands next in line to join Perry.
