Ellyse Perry: Australia captain Meg Lanning believes all-rounder will feature against England in Women’s World Cup final | Cricket News

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Ellyse Perry will most likely play as a specialist batter in the final, according to Meg Lanning

Australia captain Meg Lanning believes Ellyse Perry will feature for Australia against England in the final of the Women’s World Cup in Christchurch on Sunday, although the injured all-rounder is unlikely to bowl against the defending champions.

Perry, widely considered the best all-rounder in the sport, suffered back spasms in the penultimate round-robin game against South Africa causing her to miss the last two matches.

The 30-year-old trained with her team mates on Friday and Lanning is confident Perry will be able to contribute to her team’s efforts to claim Australia’s seventh Women’s World Cup title.

“She can definitely play as a specialist bat and that’s probably the most likely scenario, to be honest,” Lanning said.

“She hasn’t bowled for a couple of weeks now and it would be difficult for her to come out and bowl in the final…which is fine because she averages over 50 with the bat, and she’s certainly an important part of the batting line-up.

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“At the end of the day, you’ve got to trust your bowlers and back them to be able to deliver and we’ve got six very good bowlers who we’ll take into this game and we’re fully confident that they’ll be able to do the job.”

Perry missed Australia’s victory over India in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in 2020 with a hamstring issue and her current injury meant she was not available to play against Bangladesh in the final round of group matches last week.

She then missed the comprehensive victory over the West Indies in the semi-finals on Wednesday, when the Australians won by 157 runs.

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“Ellyse is a world class player, and has shown that over a long period of time, particularly in this 50-over format,” said Lanning.

“To have someone with that experience, someone who’s performed on the big stage before, hopefully able to be part of our team is a huge boost.

“We feel like that does add to our side and our ability to win tomorrow.”

Ecclestone: England yet to play best cricket ahead of WC final

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Spinner Sophie Ecclestone talked up England’s chances of winning the Women’s World Cup final

Sophie Ecclestone believes England are yet to play their best cricket ahead of Sunday’s final.

The spin bowler claimed a maiden international five-for as England powered into the final with a 137-run victory over South Africa.

Ecclestone finished with figures of 36-6 as the Proteas were bowled for 156, in a match where Danni Wyatt top scored with a maiden World Cup century in England’s 293 for eight.

England opened the tournament with three consecutive losses, but a fifth-straight victory has seen Heather Knight’s side set up a final with Australia, and Ecclestone believes England have not been at their best so far.

Sophie Ecclestone celebrates after dismissing Marizanne Kapp

“I think when we lost three from three, there were a few tears in the changing room after the game,” the 22-year-old spinner said.

“I think everyone was very disappointed with how we’d gone, but I think the turning point was having a few meetings to just say that we had nothing to lose now, so just put what we do in training out into a game and go out with no fear.

“We still haven’t played our best cricket, so to get through to the final without playing our best cricket is obviously so good to see from this group.”

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England beat South Africa by 137 runs to make it through to the Women’s Cricket World Cup final

England did not win a single game in the Ashes this winter and also lost to Australia in their World Cup opening game.

However, Ecclestone urged her side to put on a show in the final on Sunday in Wellington.

“Obviously it’s a great feeling getting through to the WC final. It’s something we’ve been working towards after we lost three games at the start so it’s great to get to the final and hopefully we can put on a show on Sunday,” she said.

“Beating the Aussies in the final, I can’t really put it into words after the Ashes we had. I really believe in this group and on our day we can definitely beat the Aussies – we’ve got a great chance.

“I know if we play our best cricket and our batters bat the way they can and the bowlers bowl the way they can, we’ve got such a great unit as a team, so we’ll just focus on ourselves and do the best we can.

“Hopefully we can go out and play our best cricket to prove the side we are.”