Leeds, June 24 (IANS) Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry reflected on her match-winning display after guiding her side to a commanding 113-run victory over Pakistan in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup clash at Headingley, saying her consistency comes from enjoying the game and constantly embracing its challenges.

Perry produced 71 off 48 balls before returning figures of 2 for 9 in a single over as Australia registered their fourth successive win, moving to the brink of the semi-finals. Named Player of the Match, the all-rounder said her approach remains rooted in finding joy in the game while continuing to evolve.

“I don’t know, I just really enjoy it. All the challenges that playing cricket throws at you, and particularly doing it with such a great group that we’ve got there. Training’s really fun. You’re always trying to get better in some way or another. I think the game moves so fast these days, you’ve got to keep up with it. So yeah, I guess just working on things and enjoying it as you go,” Perry said after the game.

Her innings came after Australia elected to bat first on a batting-friendly surface, and Perry said the conditions encouraged positive cricket from the outset.

“To be honest, it probably wasn’t too complicated. We felt like it was a good place to bat, having had the experience of getting here about a week ago. We just wanted to keep taking the game on. I think often the powerplay is the best time to bat. The way Volli targeted straight, and if you got anything back of a length, you could really hit through the line. So yeah, I felt like it was just a nice time to bat,” she added.

Perry reached her maiden T20 World Cup half-century before helping Australia finish on 199/7, a score she felt was close to what the team had targeted despite losing wickets at regular intervals.

“I guess you always want to keep the momentum going. I think we were there or thereabouts… Depending on the back-end finish, you always want to push up around 200, which is where we ended up. But I think we still got challenged a lot through that innings. We lost wickets consistently at times. So it was nice to keep the rate going, but we probably could have been more polished at times,” Perry said.

The veteran also spoke about the satisfaction of contributing with the ball after removing Muneeba Ali and Aliya Riaz in her only over of the innings.

“I think I probably got a little bit lucky, but yeah, it was fun to bowl an over. It was nice to consistently take wickets across that innings as a bowling group. Pakistan’s intent was really great and challenged us at different points. So, it was a nice kind of finish for us,” the all-rounder said.

Perry revealed she settled quickly after an early boundary helped her regain momentum following Beth Mooney’s first-ball dismissal. “Oh yeah, I really enjoyed it. Starting out there with a particular volley at the start and just getting a little bit of momentum back was really nice. And it’s a great place to play cricket, so yeah, a good night for us,” she mentioned.

Australia will next face India as they look to complete an unbeaten group-stage campaign, while Pakistan, still searching for their first victory of the tournament, will finish their campaign against the Netherlands, hoping to end on a high.

–IANS

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