CWC22: Ellyse Perry out of the West Indies match due to back injury

The favorites of CWC22, Australia, will miss out on Ellyse Perry in the first semi-final clash against West Indies. She suffered from back spasms a week ago while playing against South Africa. Hence the result of not playing the semis. Meanwhile, she did not get proper time to focus on her fitness.

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Perry missing out on such a crucial knockout is a major blow for the team. Australia captain Meg Lanning said on match eve, Tuesday, "We'll go in without her tomorrow and we'll keep assessing her if we are to progress in the tournament. So, unfortunate for her and the team, obviously, a big blow but we feel like we've got some good depth to be able to cover it and we're going to have to do that tomorrow."

The captain is optimistic that Perry will recover for the final, provided they defeat West Indies in the semi-final first and then reach the final.

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She certainly just wasn't in a position, unfortunately, to be able to perform at the level needed tomorrow: Lanning

Lanning said, "Look, she hasn't done a lot (of training) over the past week, to be fair. She batted a little bit in the nets yesterday and felt okay, but she certainly just wasn't in a position, unfortunately, to be able to perform at the level needed tomorrow. So, that was why we've made the call on that today. But, to be honest, we haven't looked too far ahead. We will keep assessing her as we go if we are to progress but the team and the squad is very focused on tomorrow and making sure that we're putting out our best game because everything else is irrelevant, to be honest."

Taking on tomorrow's match, Lanning added, "I'm sure there's work going on in the background to try and get her up to play if we were to get through but from a playing-group perspective and coaching staff, we're just really focused on tomorrow and the players that are going to be able to go out there and perform."

Unfortunately, Perry will miss her second semi-final tomorrow, the first being the 2020 T20 World Cup semi-final. In fact, she could not participate in the final due to her hamstring injury.