Perry reckoned she had enjoyed having breakfast with her five fellow Aussies - two teammates and three opponents - in Birmingham on Friday morning before the great allrounder put friendship aside to play a key role in the afternoon in steering her side to victory.
Perry, who looked in sharp form after a month playing alongside her new colleagues in county fare at Hampshire, made up for a relatively pedestrian 14 off 13 balls by bowling tightly to take 1-17 off her 20-delivery allocation and captaining shrewdly to ensure her old English Ashes rival Nat Sciver-Brunt didn't steal the show.
Chasing the Phoenix's 5-148, which had also featured an encouraging Hundred debut knock of 19 from Perry's young compatriot Georgia Voll, superstar Sciver-Brunt played a landmark innings to become the first woman to reach 1000 runs in English cricket's flagship 100 ball-a-side event.
Sciver-Brunt was single-handedly threatening to win the match when Perry, who'd already squeezed the Rockets while taking 1-9 off her 10 balls in the powerplay, brought herself back into the attack for a final five-ball stint and restricted the English star to just a couple of runs.
Another Aussie Megan Schutt (0-29) then also did a good job to keep the danger woman in check before Sciver-Brunt, running out of deliveries and partners, finally got dismissed in the last five-ball set, caught superbly by Millie Taylor off Em Arlott for a 40-ball 64.
Aussie legspinner Alana King, who'd earlier bowled well for the Rockets with her 2-30 off 20 balls, including the wicket of Voll, then came to the crease, facing mission impossible, and could only garner five off the remaining balls as the Nottingham-based outfit ended on 6-137.
"All round, it's a pretty solid start," smiled Perry. "Georgia and Emma (Lamb, 55 off 32) got us off to a good start in the powerplay which was an area that let us down last year.
"And I was impressed with the way we defended the total, particularly in the field when we cut off some twos and took some really important catches.
"Nat's always a threat whenever she's at the crease, and I thought our bowlers did a job just at the right time."
But defeat was a huge let-down for Gardner, who took 1-32 off her full allocation and looked disgusted when she was dismissed for just two, smashing a half-tracker from Hannah Baker straight to square leg while in partnership with Sciver-Brunt.
The Rockets' other Aussie international Heather Graham took 1-18 off 15 balls but was dismissed for just eight off nine balls in the chase.
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