Essex, led by skipper Grace Scrivens, were up against Somerset, led by skipper Sophie Luff, in match 54, on 12th July 2026 at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, in the final game of the league stages of the ongoing edition of the Women’s T20 Blast 2026.
Essex, led by skipper Grace Scrivens, won the toss and opted to bat first. They lost the wicket of their opening batter Anneke Bosch (10 off 7 balls) in the 2nd over of the innings. Alex Griffiths provided the first breakthrough for Somerset. Sophia Smale joined skipper Grace Scrivens at the crease, and the duo went through the rebuilding phase via a 37-run stand for the 2nd wicket.
Chloe Skelton broke the stand by sending Sophia Smale back to the pavilion in the 7th over of the innings to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Skipper Grace Scrivens (32 off 26 balls) promising stay ended in an unfortunate run-out in the 8th over of the innings, reducing Essex to 58/3.
Liberty Heap joined Jodi Grewcock at the crease, and the duo led the recovery with a crucial 44-run stand for the 4th wicket, which also took them past the 100-run mark. Somerset yet again managed to claw the momentum back in their favour as Olivia Barnes cleaned up Jodi Grewcock (19 off 17 balls) in the 14th over of the innings to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side.
Joanne Gardner (30 off 17 balls) and Bryony Gillgrass (12 off 7 balls) provided the much-needed impetus to the innings as Essex posted a challenging total of 163/9 in their quota of 20 overs. Liberty Heap (37 off 31 balls) top-scored with the bat for Essex. Charlie Dean (4-0-36-3), Lola Harris (4-0-32-1), Chloe Skelton (3-0-16-1), Olivia Barnes (3-0-17-1), and Erin Vukusic (3-0-17-1) were impressive with the ball for Somerset.
Chasing a target of 164, Somerset were pushed on the back foot as they found themselves in trouble at 29/3 inside the powerplay. Alex Griffiths joined Anika Learoyd at the crease, and the pair were staging a much-needed recovery with a 20-run stand for the 4th wicket. Eva Gray answered skipper Grace Scrivens call by sending Alex Griffiths (15 off 18 balls) back to the pavilion in the 10th over of the run chase, providing the 4th breakthrough for her side.
The run chase derailed quickly for the Sophie Luff-led side as they were reduced to 74/8 in the 14th over of the run chase courtesy of a collapse. However, the lower-order showed some sort of resilience via a crucial 27-run partnership for the 9th wicket between the wicket-keeper batter Jess Hazell and Olivia Barnes (9 off 11 balls), which took them past the 100-run mark. It was followed by another promising 21-run stand for the final wicket alongside Erin Vukusic (6 off 9 balls), which took them closer to the target, before Erin Vukusic departed on the final ball of the game.
Somerset eventually fell 41 runs short of the target. The wicket-keeper batter Jess Hazell (37* off 28 balls) stayed unbeaten, but unfortunately, couldn’t guide her side over the line. Eva Gray (3-0-11-2), Kate Coppack (4-0-20-2), Sophia Smale (4-0-22-2), and Bryony Gillgrass (4-0-26-2) picked up a couple of wickets each with the ball for Essex. The Grace Scrivens-led Essex ended their campaign in the ongoing edition of the Women’s T20 Blast on a high, with 26 points from 12 games, including 6 victories and as many defeats in their campaign, finishing as the 5th-placed side in the competition.
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