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Arc of triumphs: Champ Ellyse tons up

From teenage tearaway to polished all-round star, Ellyse Perry is continuing her trailblazing ways

Superstar allrounder Ellyse Perry is poised to become the first Australian, female or male, to play 100 Twenty20 Internationals when she takes on India in her team's final World T20 pool match in Guyana.

Only the most hardcore Australian fans – or the insomniacs – are likely to be watching when the 28-year-old strides out onto the Providence Stadium field in the early hours of Sunday morning, with the match to begin at 2am AEDT.

But those who do brave the early wake-up will witness a significant milestone for one of the world's top players.

Perry passed former vice-captain Alex Blackwell to become Australia's most-capped T20 player in Malaysia late last month, a tour in which she also played her 100th ODI and her 200th international across all formats.

'There's actually nothing she can't do'

Since making her T20I debut for Australia at the MCG on February 1, 2008 – when she captured 4-20 and scored an unbeaten 29 against England– Perry has forged a reputation as one of the game's most damaging allrounders.

And it's her ability to constantly evolve that's most impressed her coaches and teammates over the years.

Image Id: 423B15987D074DD8ADF45E3A2A6D9B38 Image Caption: Perry made her T20I debut aged just 16 // Getty

After debuting as a teenage tearaway, Perry's improvements with the bat saw her climb as high as the opening spot in the T20 team.

She's now sitting at No.7 with Australia's current game plan seeing their most attacking batters deployed at the top of the order. But while she's enjoying less time in the middle (in the shorter formats at least - her marathon Ashes 213 not out was just the seventh double-century scored in women's Tests) her bowling is as threatening as ever after a series of tweaks she's made to her run up and technique.

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"She's hitting the wicket really hard, she loves working on her technique and I think it's come to fruition for her now," Australia assistant coach – and Perry's Sydney Sixers head coach – Ben Sawyer told cricket.com.au.

"Her pace is up and she's getting good shape on the ball and she's attacking the stumps really hard.

"She's worked a bit on her run up and her run up speed and she's trying to hit the wicket nice and hard.

"It's awesome working with someone like her because she's always trying to fix her technique or tweak it a bit."

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Perry is currently sitting on 94 T20I wickets and could become the first Australian to reach the 100-mark before the end of this World T20.

She's also approaching 1000 T20I runs – she currently has 909 to her name – but may have to wait a little longer to reach that milestone if her top-order teammates continue their current form.

But Perry has already made her presence felt in this World T20, never more so than when she knocked over big-hitting New Zealand allrounder Sophie Devine for a duck last Thursday.

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"She's got a knack in those big moments of coming up with those big plays, so that was no surprise," Australia vice-captain Rachael Haynes told cricket.com.au.

"It was huge and the team was pretty pumped about it and so was she.

"I think the way she's bowling at the moment is really important for our team.

"To see her knocking over batters particularly in the Power Play is exciting.

"She's been such an amazing athlete for such a long time and she's continued to evolve as a player so it's pretty scary."

Fox Sports are televising all World T20 matches, with the Nine Network broadcasting Australia's matches. 

2018 ICC Women's World T20  

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Elyse Villani, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

November 9: Australia beat Pakistan by 52 runs

November 11: Australia beat Ireland by nine wickets

November 13: Australia beat New Zealand by 33 runs

November 17: Australia v India, Province Stadium

November 22: Semi-finals, Sir Vivian Richards Ground, Antigua

November 24: Final, Sir Vivian Richards Ground