Women's World Cup: Injured Ellyse Perry ruled out of Australia's semifinal clash against West Indies

Ellyse Perry was on Tuesday ruled out of Australia's Women's World Cup semifinal against West Indies, after the star all-rounder failed to recover from back spasms. The 31-year-old Perry had suffered back spasms and was forced from the field during Australia's win against South Africa on March 22.

Six times champions Australia, who are unbeaten in the tournament, take on the West Indies in the first semifinal on Wednesday. "Elyse Perry won't play tomorrow, she's been ruled out of the semi-final, unfortunately, she just ran out of time to prove her fitness so we'll go in without her tomorrow," Lanning said at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

"We'll keep assessing her if we are to progress in the tournament. "It's 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," Lanning added.

The Australian camp, however, remains hopeful that Perry can recover in time for Sunday's summit clash in Christchurch, should they advance. "I'm sure there's work going on in the background to get her up to play if we were to get through," Lanning said.

Perry seemed to have hurt herself while tumbling over a boundary rope in a fielding attempt against South Africa last week. She didn't bat in the game and also missed Australia's final league stage match against Bangladesh.

This is the second consecutive World Cup semifinal game Perry will miss. She had been forced to miss Australia's T20 World Cup semifinal and final triumphs on home soil in 2020 due to a hamstring injury.