The 63rd Match of the ECB Women’s One-Day Cup at Trent Bridge saw The Blaze Women secure a decisive six-wicket victory over Somerset Women, chasing down their target comfortably with 69 balls to spare.
After winning the toss and opting to field, The Blaze put early pressure on the opening pairing of Bex Odgers and skipper Sophie Luff. Odgers struggled for rhythm before falling for 2 off 17 balls to Grace Ballinger, caught by Prisha Thanawala at 7/1 in the 6th over. Emma Corney arrived next, scoring a quick 4 off 5 balls, but fell shortly after as Charley Phillips had her caught behind by Sarah Bryce with the scoreboard at 15/2 in the 7th over.
Luff found a solid partner in Niamh Holland, and together they stabilised the innings with a top-scoring 66-run stand. Luff brought up a composed half-century, making 52 off 57 deliveries (7 fours), before being stumped by Sarah Bryce off Kathryn Bryce’s bowling at 81/3 in the 19th over. Holland kept pushing forward alongside Jess Hazell, adding 35 runs for the fourth wicket until Kirstie Gordon removed Holland for 32 off 47 balls at 116/4 in the 25th over.
Gordon struck again to break Hazell’s resistance at 20 off 30 balls, leaving Somerset at 121/5. Lucy Higham then turned the match on its head with a masterclass in spin bowling. She stumped Katie Jones (11 off 24 balls) at 144/6, clean bowled Alex Griffiths (who fought hard for 38 off 51 balls) at 191/9, and dismissed both Jasmine Westley (5 off 17) and Chloe Skelton (8 off 22) along the way. Ballinger returned to clean up Lola Harris for a duck, leaving Ellie Anderson stranded on 4 not out.
Higham finished with brilliant figures of 4/28 from 9 overs, supported by Ballinger (2/27), Gordon (2/48), Phillips (1/19), and Kathryn Bryce (1/31), while Josie Groves went wicketless with 0/32 as Somerset ended on 192 all out in 46.1 overs.
The chase got off to a shaky start when Ellie Anderson tore through the top order. She removed Prisha Thanawala (4 off 6) at 6/1 and Kathryn Bryce (2 off 5) at 9/2 in back-to-back overs. Tammy Beaumont and Georgia Elwiss rebuilt the innings with a 44-run third-wicket stand. Jasmine Westley broke the partnership by getting Elwiss caught for 23 off 30 balls at 53/3.
Beaumont then found stability with Sarah Bryce, adding 52 runs for the fourth wicket. Beaumont’s disciplined stay of 39 off 81 balls came to an end when Chloe Skelton had her caught by Hazell at 105/4. That set the stage for an explosive, unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership between Sarah Bryce and Emma Jones. The duo smashed an unbroken 88 runs to seal the contest. Bryce anchored the pursuit with an unbeaten 54 off 65 balls (3 fours), while Jones took control with an aggressive 53 not out off just 44 deliveries, laced with 7 boundaries.
The Blaze reached 193/4 in 38.3 overs. For Somerset, Anderson stood out with 2/34, while Skelton (1/43) and Westley (1/42) claimed a wicket each, with Griffiths (0/9), Harris (0/36), and Holland (0/28) unable to break through.
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