We are into the 2024-25 Women’s Super Smash and the Wellington Blaze led by skipper Melie Kerr is currently the defending champion of the tournament. They clinched the title in an edge-of-the-seat thriller by one run against Central Districts earlier this year.
Ahead of their 2024-25 season, the Blaze has roped in the experienced all-rounder Ellyse Perry for the first couple of games in their campaign. Perry was last in action during Australia’s recently concluded away bilateral ODI series against New Zealand, where she scored 43 runs in a couple of innings.
As far as the T20I format is concerned, she has the joint most appearances for Australia (162 matches) in the format alongside the Australian skipper Alyssa Healy. She has scored over 2,000 runs in the format at an impressive average of 31.16 and a strike rate of 116.25 in 105 innings. Her best performance with the bat in the format for her side came on 14th December 2022 in the 3rd T20I against India when she scored 75 (47 balls) at the Brabourne Stadium, in Mumbai.
Apart from her contributions with the bat, she has also been a match-winner with the ball for her side in the format with 126 wickets at an impressive average of 18.78 and an economy of 5.83 in 136 innings with the ball for her side. Her tally of wickets includes 4 four-wicket hauls and her best performance with the ball for her side in the format came on 31st January 2016 in the 3rd T20I against India when she returned with sensational match figures of 4-0-12-4 in her spell at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
She was the skipper of the Sydney Sixers in the landmark 10th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and finished as the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 424 runs at an impressive strike rate of 137.21 and a sensational average of 53 in 10 innings. Her tally of runs included four half-centuries with a high score of 86 against Hobart Hurricanes on 6th November 2024.
Her stint with the Wellington Blaze will be her maiden stint in the Women’s Super Smash tournament. She’ll be available for the first couple of matches for her side and will then travel back home to prepare and participate in the upcoming multi-format Women’s Ashes 2025. The blockbuster series will include 3 ODIs, 3 T20Is and then a one-off Pink Ball Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The defending champions Wellington Blaze will kick start their campaign in the ongoing 2024-25 edition of the Women’s Super Smash on 1st January 2025, (Wednesday) in the 5th match of the tournament against the Northern Districts at Seddon Park, Hamilton, from 5:10 AM IST.
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