Kirstie Gordon’s Five-for Propel The Blaze to Dominant 7 Wickets Victory Over Thunder

The Thunder 111 for 9 (Collins 30, Gordon 5-12, Higham 3-24) lost against the Blaze 112 for 3 (Beaumont 34*) by seven wickets.

On a ground that was being used for its fourth Twenty20 match in as many days, slow left-armer Gordon’s superb bowling and Bryce’s smart work behind the stumps restricted Thunder to 111 for 9. However, this total proved to be no sort of target for a Blaze squad that featured England opener Tammy Beaumont. With 4.2 overs remaining, Beaumont scored 34 not out, surpassing her England teammates Kate Cross and Sophie Ecclestone in the process as Blaze easily won.

Although Thunder won the toss, The Blaze quickly took control of the game, limiting their opponents to just 22 runs in the powerplay overs and claiming two crucial wickets.

Seren Smale was cleverly stumped by Bryce off her sister Kathryn for a 13-ball 2 and Fi Morris, the hero of Thunder’s victory over Sparks on Thursday, was caught by Teresa Graves at backward point for 1 off the eighth ball of the match.

Emma Lamb hit two fours, but in the eighth over, Marie Kelly caught her at deep mid-on off Gordon for twenty runs. Thunder reached the halfway point of their innings with 44 for 3, needing just 10 runs from the tenth over.

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Ellie Threlkeld and Danni Collins eventually maintained some much-needed impetus until Lucy Higham terminated their 43-run stand in the 14th over by having Threlkeld caught by Gordon at mid-off for 20 runs.

After just six deliveries, Ailsa Lister, the new batswoman, was out of the game by 4 when she was holed out by Kelly off Higham. Collins was removed for a brave 30 by Sarah Bryce, the off-spinner’s third victim.

With 17 runs off of Kathryn Bryce’s 19th over, which was partly due to Ecclestone’s four and six, it was the most fruitful over of the innings for Thunder.

The England slow left-armer and Cross put up 26 runs in 14 balls, and then Gordon finished an incredible afternoon by bowling Ecclestone for 20 and getting Phoebe Graham stumped on the first delivery. This was Cross’s third stumping of Sarah Bryce.

In contrast to their hosts, The Blaze, Beaumont and Teresa Graves, found it easy to get the scoreboard rolling. Together, they amassed fifty runs in 6.2 overs before Graves, who had made twenty-nine from twenty-four balls, skied Sophie Morris to Tara Norris at mid-off.

Beaumont and the No. 3’s dismissal, caught at midwicket by Norris off Fi Morris for 21, did not stop The Blaze’s run to victory. Kathryn Bryce then added another 36 in five overs. In what turned out to be the last over of the match, Sarah Bryce was caught at cover by Cross.