Powerful Perry grasps her chance

Meg Lanning hopes a timely opportunity for Ellyse Perry might trigger a new era in T20I cricket for the star allrounder.

Perry was promoted to the top of the order for Australia’s fifth T20I tri-series match against England in Mumbai on Wednesday, filling in for usual opener Beth Mooney who is managing a mild abdominal strain.

She made a circumspect start after the early wickets of Alyssa Healy and Elyse Villani left Australia 2-12 but picked up the pace to finish unbeaten on 47 from 32, including six boundaries from the last eight balls she faced.

It was an important knock for the allrounder, who has had few opportunities to bat during the T20I series, sitting in the middle order behind the power hitting of Healy, Mooney, Villani and Gardner.

While Perry averages 51.83 in ODI cricket, with 25 half-centuries to her name, she hasn’t quite managed the same lofty heights with the bat in T20Is just yet, averaging 25.73 with a strike rate of 104.04.

But given her incredible strength and power – as demonstrated during a whirlwind 49-ball 91no in the Rebel WBBL this summer – Lanning hopes Wednesday’s innings can be the catalyst of big things to come for the 27-year-old.

“Ellyse has adapted her game a fair bit over this series, she’s one of the most powerful hitters in world cricket and once she gets going she’s hard to stop,” Lanning said.

“We had an opportunity to get her up to the top of the order and face a few more balls than she has been today.

“It was tough at the start because we lost a couple of wickets but once she got going she did it really easily. 

“Hopefully that give her that confidence in this format that she can come out and play really well.”

Lanning also heaped praise on her T20I squad for their adaptability throughout the ongoing T20I tri-series.

Australia bowled England out for 96 then reached their target with 51 balls to spare on Wednesday, meaning they will head into Saturday’s final – also against England – having dropped just one match since arriving in India almost a month ago.

“We hope Mooney will be right for the final, but Sophie Molineux came in and I thought she did really well, she bowled to her plans really nicely,” Lanning said.

“Ashleigh Gardner was feeling a little bit off today which is why she didn’t come in at number three.

“In the past maybe our squad wouldn’t have done so well with the changes and the adapting, but I feel we’ve done that really nicely throughout this series.

“We’ve got a number of players who can bat in different roles which is a really important for us moving forward.”

Few players have embodied that adaptability as well as pace-bowling allrounder Delissa Kimmince, who arrived in Mumbai just three days before Australia’s first T20I, having not been part of the ODI squad.

The 28-year-old, who was recalled to the Australian set-up during the Ashes last November after a two-year international absence, has taken six wickets in four matches including a career-best 3-20 on Wednesday.

“I thought Kimmince was really good today, she barely bowled a bad ball,” Lanning said.

“Her experience has played a really big role for her and for us in this series, especially bowling wise.

“When you’re under the pump so much as a bowler in these conditions, you need to be really clear on what your plan is and set your fields and Kimmince is really good at that.

“She’s very calm under pressure which is what you need. She came in only a couple of days before the first game and she hit the ground running.”

Australia now have two days off before the final, while England play India on Thursday.

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rumeli Dhar, Mona Meshram.

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Bryony Smith, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by 321 runs. Report

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by seven wickets. Report

ODI series

First ODI Australia won by eight wickets. Scorecard

Second ODI Australia won by 60 runs. Scorecard

Third ODI Australia won by 97 runs. Scorecard

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia defeated India by six wickets. Scorecard

Second T20I England defeated Australia by eight wickets. Scorecard

Third T20I England defeated India by seven wickets. Scorecard

Fourth T20I Australia defeated India by 36 runs. Scorecard

Fifth T20I Australia defeated England by eight wickets. Scorecard

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29. Live Coverage

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31. Live Coverage