The evergreen Ellyse Perry ended the season with a match-winning flourish, while Georgia Wareham hit her first fifty in the competition
Ellyse Perry has bowed out of Birmingham Phoenix’s underwhelming 2026 campaign in The Hundred by reminding the Edgbaston faithful of her enduring class with a match-winning half-century in their final game.
The allrounder hammered an unbeaten 62 to carry the Phoenix to a five-wicket victory over MI London in a wooden-spoon battle between the two lowest-ranked sides in the tournament.
Captain Perry hadn’t managed to cajole the best out of her side over the last month but her own personal standards rarely drop and she still ended up as one of the six leading run-getters in the tournament with 223 compiled at an average of 55.75.
Fellow Aussies Phoebe Litchfield (289 runs) and Annabel Sutherland (273), the Sunrisers Leeds teammates, were the top two scorers after the group stages.
After MI made 6-120, with Perry also taking a catch in the deep off Alana King (1-25) to get rid of top-scorer Chinelle Henry for 42, the skipper was in imperious form as she stroked her 62 off 39 balls, with seven fours and two sixes, helped in a 66-run stand with Pakistan captain Fatima Sana.
The Phoenix got across the line on 5-121, with six balls to spare, as Perry fittingly struck the winning run.
“Nice to finish on a high,” smiled the 35-year-old Perry. “I can’t fault our effort throughout the championship, we’ve given it everything we can on the field but it just hasn’t come off for the most part.
“I actually popped home between the World Cup win and the Hundred, but it’s been nice to come back – it’s been a wonderful summer.
“The weather’s been great, the crowds have been amazing, I think women’s cricket has really shone over the summer. It’s been a huge privilege to be part of that.”
Earlier, another Australian star Georgia Wareham also finished off her campaign leading the Welsh Fire by scoring a half-century in their 15-run win over London Spirit in Cardiff.
Just like Perry, there was more than an element of frustration for spinning allrounder Wareham, as her efforts failed to get her side into the playoffs later this week as they finished fifth of the eight teams.
Wareham hit six fours and a six in her 34-ball knock, helping the Fire to 7-138 as Grace Harris picked up 3-15 for the Spirit.
But opener Harris’s struggles with the bat continued as she fell for one in reply, and Heather Graham (2-16) and Wareham (1-29) both helped bowl out the visitors for 123.
Trent Rockets, spearheaded by Beth Mooney, captain Ash Gardner and Kim Garth, are already in Sunday’s final at Lord’s, while Leeds, featuring Litchfield, Sutherland and Jess Jonassen, will face the Sophie Molineux-led Southern Brave in the ‘eliminator’ semi-final on Friday.
