Grace Scrivens produced a captain’s knock of the highest quality before Essex Women held their nerve with the ball to secure a thrilling 12-run victory over Durham Women in the Women’s T20 Blast 2026 at Chester-le-Street. After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Essex built their innings around a superb opening partnership, while Durham fought back strongly in the chase through several useful contributions before falling just short of the 163-run target.
Essex Women enjoyed the perfect platform thanks to skipper Grace Scrivens and Anneke Bosch, who dominated the powerplay with positive strokeplay. The pair combined for an excellent 94-run opening partnership, taking the attack to the Durham bowlers and ensuring there was no early breakthrough. Scrivens looked fluent throughout her innings, piercing the gaps regularly and finding the boundary with remarkable consistency, while Bosch played the ideal supporting role with a composed knock. Durham finally found relief in the 14th over, when Katherine Fraser dismissed Bosch for a valuable 48 off 37 balls, an innings featuring four fours and a six, leaving Essex at 94/1.
Despite losing her opening partner, Scrivens continued to dictate the innings. She found another productive stand with Sophia Smale, who made a brisk 14 from 9 deliveries, including two boundaries. The duo added 20 runs for the second wicket, but Grace Thompson broke the partnership by removing Smale at 114/2 in the 16th over. Essex maintained the momentum as Jodi Grewcock joined Scrivens, and the pair stitched together a handy 44-run third-wicket partnership. Grewcock contributed 12 from 9 balls before being run out by Heather Graham in the penultimate over, with the scoreboard reading 158/3.
Scrivens continued her outstanding innings until the final over, where she eventually departed for a magnificent 85 off 64 balls, smashing 12 fours at a strike rate above 132. Her dismissal came courtesy of Hollie Armitage and Heather Graham, ending a match-defining innings with Essex on 162/4. Liberty Heap remained unbeaten on 1, while the visitors finished on 162/4 in their 20 overs, adding 2 extras to post a competitive total.
Durham’s bowlers had mixed fortunes throughout the innings. Katherine Fraser was the standout performer, returning economical figures of 1/17 from four overs, while Heather Graham also claimed an important wicket with 1/31. Grace Thompson picked up 1/39, whereas Trudy Johnson bowled tidily for 0/11 from two overs. Katie Levick (0/42) and Sophia Turner (0/22 from two overs) were unable to stem Essex’s scoring during the crucial middle overs.
Needing 163 for victory, Durham Women’s chase suffered the worst possible start as Eva Gray struck in just the third ball of the innings, dismissing Katherine Fraser without scoring to leave the hosts at 1/1. Captain Hollie Armitage then attempted to rebuild alongside Emily Windsor, and the pair added 23 runs before Sophia Smale removed Windsor for 6, reducing Durham to 24/2 in the sixth over.
Armitage found another useful partner in Bess Heath, with the duo adding 30 runs for the third wicket. Heath contributed 23 from 21 balls, but Kate Coppack ended the stand when Heath was caught, leaving Durham on 54/3. The chase remained alive thanks to Armitage’s composed 43 off 41 deliveries, featuring four boundaries, but her dismissal by Bryony Gillgrass at 98/4 in the 15th over shifted the momentum back towards Essex. The biggest counterattack came from Heather Graham, who played an entertaining innings of 36 from just 23 balls, striking five fours at an impressive strike rate above 156.
Alongside the aggressive Mia Rogers, who blasted 27 off 15 balls with three boundaries, Durham added 39 runs for the fifth wicket, bringing the equation within reach. However, Eva Gray removed Graham in the penultimate over with the score on 137/5, before Rogers fell soon after for 141/6, giving Essex complete control heading into the final over. Despite a late unbeaten cameo from Emma Marlow, who finished on 10 not out from 5 balls, and Grace Thompson, unbeaten on 1, Durham closed on 150/6 from 20 overs, falling 12 runs short after adding 4 extras.
Essex’s bowling unit delivered collectively under pressure. Eva Gray led the attack superbly with 2 wickets for 27 runs from four overs, providing crucial breakthroughs at both the start and death. Sophia Smale was equally impressive, claiming 2/22 in four overs, while Kate Coppack chipped in with 1/25. Esmae MacGregor took 2/39, whereas Grace Scrivens bowled two overs for 0/17. Bryony Gillgrass finished with 1/7 from one over, and Jodi Grewcock conceded 12 runs in her lone over.
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