The Blaze beat Lancashire Thunder by 5 wickets
Nottingham-based The Blaze maintained their unbeaten record in the Vitality Blast women’s competition with a five-wicket victory over Lancashire Thunder at the Uptonsteel County Ground in Leicester.
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, making her first appearance in English domestic cricket for almost two years, made 31 from 25 balls with former England international all-rounder Georgia Elwiss top scoring with an unbeaten 43 off 30 as The Blaze won with 10 balls to spare.
Scotland international Ailsa Lister recovered the Lancashire innings, thundering nine fours and three sixes in a 38-ball 79 - the highest individual score for Thunder in this year’s women’s Blast, helping her side from 47 for three after 10 overs to 150 for nine, regaining second place in the points table.
Australia all-rounder Heather Graham took three for 36, Blaze skipper Kirstie Gordon picking up two for 24.
The scheduling had been tough on Thunder, who were in action at The Kia Oval only 24 hours earlier; the Blaze, by contrast, had enjoyed a six-day hiatus between fixtures, although the break had allowed both Surrey Women and Bears Women to overtake them in the Blast table.
Put in, Thunder struggled to 29 for two in the powerplay. Emma Lamb was run out at the non-striker’s end when bowler Sarah Glenn deflected Eve Jones’s drive into the stumps, Jones falling to the last ball of the sixth, well taken by Gordon at mid-on. Lister had an escape when she was dropped at mid-wicket on three but Thunder still faced a big task to post a meaningful score at 41 for three after Elwiss had Ellie Threlkeld caught behind for six.
They were four down for 65 in the 12th, but the fifth-wicket pair almost doubled the total before Morris hit Graham straight to backward point, sparking a rush of wickets. King holed out to mid-on next ball before Gordon took two in two deliveries at the end of the 19th as Kate Cross was stumped and Tara Norris found long-on.
Lister - dropped again on 62 - could not be shifted until slicing Graham to third man off the last ball, having cleared the rope off the Australian for the second time at the start of the final over.
The Blaze lost Tammy Beaumont, leg before playing across the line to Kate Cross, and Kathryn Bryce yorked by Tara Norris, but were 48 for two from six thanks mainly to Sciver-Brunt hitting four of her first 10 balls to the boundary. Marie Kelly stepped right across her stumps to be bowled by Australian leg-spinner Alana King at 55 for three. Nonetheless, the home side looked comfortable at the halfway point, needing 78 to win.
They would have felt less so eight balls later when Sciver-Brunt missed a straight ball from Grace Potts that hit the top of off-stump. The departure of one England player ushered in another in Amy Jones but after adding 29 in 19 balls with Elwiss, Jones miscued to mid-on for 16.
The departure of the in-form Jones gave Thunder brief hope but three fours from Graham regained momentum for the home side, Elwiss thumping her seventh four down the ground off King to win the contest.