Sixers on road to WBBL redemption
Ellyse Perry has fired Sydney Sixers to a clean sweep of their Women's Big Bash League matches on a busy Melbourne weekend.
The Sixers won all four ties at Junction Oval across three days to surge from the bottom of the WBBL table into semi-finals contention.
On Friday the Sixers swatted 5-164 to beat Melbourne Renegades, with openers Alyssa Healy (81) and Perry (57) putting the match beyond reach.
Perry top-scored twice on Saturday in a double-header against Adelaide, knocking totals of 47 and 65 to set up the perfect weekend.
On Sunday the 25-year-old led the way with an unbeaten innings of 67 as the Sixers hauled in the Renegades total of 6-128 with 32 balls remaining.
After starting their season with six straight losses, the Sixers now have five consecutive victories and could yet sneak into the final four.
Perry said she attributed the turnaround to a fixture quirk that sidelined the team over Christmas.
"I don't think there was much to it. Just freshening up," she told the WBBL website.
"It was probably in our favour that we had those three weeks off over Christmas and everyone could go away and work on a few different things.
"I think for me in this format especially I'm still learning a lot with the bat."
The Sixers will have to win their three remaining matches to make finals; against top two sides Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes.
Elsewhere, the last-placed Renegades saved their best performance of the season for the table-topping Thunder.
More than 14,000 people watched the closing stages of the Etihad Stadium match, a curtain raiser to the BBL Melbourne derby.
Openers Rachel Priest (57) was named player of the match for her role in a match-winning opening stand of 72 with Dane van Niekerk (29).
The Renegades total of 8-139 proved too much for the Thunder, with Alex Blackwell (45) the only batter to stand up.
Molly Strano (3-18) captured both Thunder openers, combining with Sophie Molineux (3-20) to inflict the Thunder's third loss of the season.
Completing the round, Adelaide and Melbourne Stars took a win each from matches against each other.
