I assume that you really want to match two digits.

$variable = "-----;=99;helloworld";

if ($variable =~ /(\d\d)/) {
  # $1 contains 99
}
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The parentheses in the regex mark the parts that you want to capture.

--
<http://www.dave.org.uk>

"Perl makes the fun jobs fun
and the boring jobs bearable" - me