Ellyse Perry scored an innings-saving 81 against Mumbai Indians in the WPL yesterday (February 21), to continue her statistically exceptional record in the competition.
Having come in at first drop in the third over, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru at 29-1, she watched a top-order collapse from the other end. Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Raghvi Bist and Kanika Ahuja all fell in the space of nine runs, leaving Perry to rebuild the innings. She did her job perfectly, building a strong partnership with Richa Ghosh and kicking on after she reached her half-century off 31 balls.
She was finally out with one ball of the innings to spare, having hit two fours off consecutive deliveries and skying a catch to Shabnim Ismail attempting a third boundary. She took RCB to a total of 169 off their overs.
While her effort was eventually in vain, with MI going on to win the game, her innings ensured RCB set a competitive total. MI only had one ball to spare when they got over the line, the Australia pair of Georgia Wareham and Kim Garth starring with the ball.
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After three innings in this year's competition, Perry's stats read 145 runs at an average of 72.50, and a strike-rate of 161.11. Only Nat Sciver-Brunt has more runs so far in the competition, and perry is equal with both Ash Gardner and Sciver-Brunt with two half-centuries after three rounds of games.
What is Perry's historical record in the WPL?
In the history of the WPL, only Meg Lanning (777) has more runs than Perry (745), and no one with more than 100 runs has a higher average (57.30). In fact, no one with more than 100 runs in the history of the competition has scored their runs at a rate of within 10 runs of Perry's average. Again, only Lanning (7) has more half-centuries than Perry (6).
Ellyse Perry put on a show in RCB's first home game of the 2025 WPL 🔥
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) February 21, 2025
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Last season, she was a critical factor in why RCB won their first WPL title. She scored the most runs of anyone in the competition, and averaged an astonishing 69.40 across nine innings. In the final, she scored an unbeaten 35 as RCB chased a low target, having scored a half-century in the eliminator to see RCB qualify for the final.
Perry doesn't bowl as much as she did in the earlier part of her career, but her record with the ball is also decent. Having bowled 39.2 overs across three seasons, she has 11 wickets to her name, more than half of which came in one match. She took 6-15 against MI last year, which remain the best-ever bowling figures in the competition.
Why does Perry stand out above the stats?
The reason Perry's stats don't show the full story of how exceptional her value in the WPL is, is because they don't contextualise the situations in which she has scored her runs - as with many cases of mismatched statistics to worth. But Perry's WPL record is an example of where both the stats show she is outstanding, as well as the performances beneath the stats.
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A lot of Perry's most valuable innings have come as lone stands amid a collapsing batting lineup. Her half-century in RCB's opening match of the competition came in a 202-run chase after both openers were out within the first two overs. She scored 57 off 34 balls before she was out, which laid the foundations for Ghosh to get them over the line.
Her six-for against MI last year single-handedly secured RCB a place in the play-offs, with the match their final of the group stage and a win needed for them to take the third qualifying place.
There are countless other examples of when Perry has played a rescuing act for RCB and, even above the stats, she should be regarded as arguably the most valuable player in the competition.
The WPL is still in a nascent stage, and remains a level below the WBBL (perhaps even The Hundred as well). Perry has nothing to prove to anyone here. But if and when the league grows as it should, her status as one of its early-era legends will only add to her legacy.
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