The Blaze Dominate Somerset to Secure T20 Blast Final Spot
The Blaze kept their treble charge burning brightly at Trent Bridge, brushing aside Somerset to move within touching distance of another final on home soil.
They chased 193 with authority and with time to spare, winning by six wickets and with 11.3 overs in hand. It was controlled, clinical and, at times, ruthless – the performance of a side that already owns the T20 Blast and County Cup and sees no reason to slow down in the 50-over arena.
Bryce and Jones shut the door
Set 193 after a disciplined bowling effort, The Blaze lost neither nerve nor tempo. Tammy Beaumont, as so often, set the tone. Her 39 anchored the early part of the chase, absorbing any flicker of Somerset hope and ensuring there would be no early collapse to feed on.
Once Beaumont departed, the baton passed seamlessly to Sarah Bryce and Emma Jones. They did not let it slip.
Bryce, measured and methodical, compiled an unbeaten 54 from 65 balls, picking gaps, running hard, and quietly draining the contest of tension. At the other end, Jones injected pace into the innings with 53 not out from just 44 deliveries, turning a solid platform into a procession. Boundaries flowed, the required rate shrank, and Somerset’s fielders spent the final phase chasing shadows rather than chances.
By the time the winning runs came, the result had long since felt inevitable.
Higham leads the squeeze
Somerset’s day had promised more. Captain Sophie Luff, so often their backbone, delivered again with her fourth 50-over half-century of the season. Her innings gave structure to a line-up that needed it, but the Blaze attack never allowed the total to get out of hand.
Lucy Higham was the standout. The spinner ripped through the middle order with 4-28, her variations forcing mistakes as Somerset tried to lift the tempo. Every time the visitors hinted at acceleration, Higham dragged them back.
Support came from both ends. Grace Ballinger and Kirstie Gordon picked up two wickets apiece, sharing the hard yards and ensuring Somerset never escaped the stranglehold. Wickets fell regularly enough that 192 always felt light on a Trent Bridge surface offering enough for batters prepared to stay in.
Somerset were bowled out for 192. Against this Blaze side, it was asking for trouble.
Table-toppers tighten their grip
The win keeps The Blaze five points clear at the top of the Women’s One-Day Cup standings, a cushion that looks increasingly significant as the group stage winds down. One more victory from their final two fixtures will guarantee them a place in the final at Trent Bridge on 19 September – a home showpiece to complete a remarkable domestic treble.
The next hurdle could define the tone of the run-in. Hampshire, sitting second, await on Wednesday in Southampton. They have already secured a knockout berth and underlined their own credentials with a seven-wicket win over Yorkshire, staying within striking distance of the leaders.
Elsewhere, Warwickshire tightened their grip on third place, while Surrey crushed Essex by 118 runs and Lancashire edged Durham by three runs at their new base on the outskirts of Preston. The chasing pack is busy, but The Blaze remain the side everyone is looking up at.
Somerset, beaten but not out of it, stay locked in a fight with Warwickshire for third place and the eliminator spot on 16 September. Their captain is in form, their campaign still alive. Yet as the season heads into its decisive weeks, it is The Blaze who stride on, treble dreams intact and the finish line now firmly in sight.
