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Meg Lanning, captain of Australia, has successfully
made a comeback to professional cricket after missing six months due to a
medical ailment. On Tuesday in Perth, she played for Victoria in the WNCL and
scored 51 runs off 48 balls.
Lanning, who missed the entire women’s Ashes series
due to an undisclosed medical condition, quietly made her long-awaited comeback
in the WNCL after not playing since the WPL in India in March.
The national selectors and medical staff preferred she
make her comeback in domestic cricket, hence she was not chosen for Australia’s
upcoming T20I and ODI series against West Indies, which begins on Sunday.
She provided the WACA with a free-flowing
half-century. She had a great stroke of luck when Piepa Cleary’s no-ball on her
seventh ball of the innings resulted in her being caught in the gully, and she
made the most of it by smashing six fours and a six to reach her half-century.
She began her innings by destroying Lilly Mills’ offspin by slamming her
through cover and over long off. She then unleashed cuts, pulls, and two lovely
sweeps off Amy Edgar’s offspin against Australia’s Alana King, a legspinner.
After only 47 balls, she reached 50 before falling one
ball later, cutting Zoe Britcliffe onto her stumps as she attempted a late cut
behind point. Lanning’s return is encouraging for her prospects of joining
Australia’s multiformat tour of India in December and January, which follows
the WBBL.
Lanning’s 51 was a rare success for Victoria as they
were bowled out for 176. Ellyse Perry made just 8 on her comeback from a knee
injury while Australia team-mates Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham both
fell for 1.