RCB Podcast: Ellyse Perry reveals how she bowled with Dirk Nannes’ run-up in the 2010 Women’s T20 World Cup final

For anyone who has been watching women’s cricket for a while now would know that back in 2010, when the Australian women were locked in a ferocious battle against New Zealand in the grand finale of the T20 World Cup, it all boiled down to the last ball of the match.

Ellyse Perry who was still to find her iconic stride as an all-rounder, was bowling the final over. Before that she had claimed three crucial wickets in the form of Suzie Bates, Amy Sattherthwaite and Nicola Browne that left the White Ferns wobbling despite chasing a modest score on the board.

With five needed off the last ball, Perry bowled a half-volley and her current teammate at RCB, Sophie Devine came hammering down at her. Struck ramrod straight, she tried to power the ball down the ground. With barely a part of her extended boot, the ball stopped and Australia leapt into a manic frenzy as they were the champions of the world.

Talking on RCB Podcast’s latest season, Ellyse Perry opened up on the exact feeling that overwhelmed her at that point in time while revealing a very funny story about how she actually ended up running Dirk Nannes’ run-up throughout the entire finale.

Pez said, “I bowled a bit of a half-volley which Soph hit pretty strongly. It was heading straight past me and I just managed to stick a foot out. Fortunately, after the ball striking my foot, they could just take one run in the end. It was an amazing game. It was a pretty low total. We batted first and managed to score just above 100 and we managed to defend the total. I got the opportunity to bowl the last over and it was really fun.”

Shedding light on her mixing up her run-up, Perry added, “Actually I was running Dirk Nannes’ run-up the whole game because the men’s final was before us. The game was in West Indies. So the men’s final was before our game and Australia was playing England. Dirk Nannes was playing for Australia at that time. Somehow my run-up got mixed up with Dirk’s and his run-up was probably 10 metres longer than mine. So running in the game, I felt that it was quite a long way to the pitch. It was pretty strange and I was pretty exhausted at the end of that game.”