Sydney Sixers 107 for 3 (Perry 44*, Kennedy 2-20) beat Melbourne Renegades 104 (Harmanpreet 47, Perry 5-22) by seven wickets

Captain Ellyse Perry claimed five wickets in a spectacular return to bowling as Sydney Sixers registered a much-needed victory over struggling Melbourne Renegades at the WACA.

Bowling for the first time since the Ashes, Perry ripped through Renegades' batting-order to produce her best WBBL figures of 5 for 22. Chasing a lowly 105 in good batting conditions, Perry's superb match continued with an unbeaten 44 and she also passed 4000 career WBBL runs.

Perry steadied the ship after Sixers wobbled at 9 for 2 when left-arm quick Sara Kennedy claimed her first WBBL wickets by removing Maitlan Brown and Ashleigh Gardner.

The 16-year-old Kennedy, who has Year 10 exams next week, impressed in her fourth game with rapid bowling but Renegades' bid to claw back into the contest was thwarted by a 62-run partnership from Perry and Erin Burns.

Burns fell for 32, but Perry - who has a knack of mustering her best against Renegades - and Chloe Tryon powered Sixers to the target with 27 balls remaining.

Perry elected to bowl in cooler conditions than the oppressive heat both teams experienced during the WACA doubleheader two days earlier. There was much at stake with Sixers and Renegades propping the ladder with 1-5 records each.

Renegades desperately needed opener Hayley Matthews to find form after a slow start to the season. She hit a boundary in the second over off left-arm spinner Linsey Smith's first delivery before holing out on the next ball.

Bowling from the old Prindiville Stand end, looking barren these days amid a ground redevelopment, Perry then took over in style. She had the rather fortuitous wicket of opener Tammy Beaumont on her first delivery when a half-tracker was hit straight to deep midwicket.

But there was no luck involved when a sharp Perry delivery had Jess Duffin caught behind. Next delivery she clean bowled Georgia Prestwidge with a cracking in-swinger that hit the top of middle stump.

Perry bowled quickly, hitting speeds nudging 120kmh, and she found movement from a green-tinged surface which also accounted for Georgia Wareham, whose stumps were rattled.

Renegades were in disarray at 57 for 6 with their hopes of passing triple figures resting on Harmanpreet Kaur. She did her best with a counterattack during the power surge and took a liking to Gardner's offspin with three straight boundaries.

Harmanpreet also bravely took on Perry with a bludgeon down the ground, but her 40-ball 47 was defined by trademark deft touches. She fell just short of a half-century as Renegades' hopes of a competitive total sank.

They scraped past three figures before Perry capped her brilliant bowling comeback with the final wicket of Josie Dooley.

Perry finished a stellar all-round performance with the bat to help breathe life into Sixers' WBBL season.