It’s inevitable in sport that one team will become the stumbling block for another. In the case of The Blaze this season, that team has been Lancashire Thunder. Defeats in both Metro Bank One Day Cup fixtures and a Vitality County Cup semi-final have meant three losses from three.
Just six days later they met again, this time at Old Trafford in the Vitality Blast, with The Blaze hoping it would be fourth time lucky. They won by seven wickets with five balls to spare, but it didn’t always look like they would win so convincingly.
The gruelling nature of the Blast schedule meant they had less than 24 hours to recover from their tournament opener, a tense tie against Birmingham Bears at Trent Bridge. This time, unlike in the previous three meetings, The Blaze won the toss, and crucially, chose to field first. It’s a gameplan that suits them, but Tilly Kesteven and Katie Mack got Thunder off to a rapid start. The opening stand was only broken by a quality in-swinging yorker from Cassidy McCarthy that snuck past Kesteven’s bat; a deserved reward in what has been a good week for the 20-year-old opener, who has made the most of her return to the Thunder side.
On a large Trent Bridge outfield, the runs continued to flow. Seren Smale joined overseas player Mack, who will make way for Alana King when she arrives, and again the partnership passed fifty. It threatened to go further, and might well have done had Sarah Glenn, released by England to play in this game, not plucked a catch out of the air. Mack, the set batter, would have expected to see it hit the boundary rope, but instead, she was walking back for 59 from 37 balls. The wicket was a gift for birthday-girl Georgia Elwiss, who was just getting started on what would be a strong day with both bat and ball.
Thunder could have capitalised more from a Blaze side that was still far from sharp in the field, but the visitors held their nerve towards the end of the innings, keeping Thunder to 169 for four.
It would need a brave start to the powerplay. Elwiss is in form, having scored 52 just the day before, and in Marie Kelly, she found an opening partner that wasn’t afraid to take risks. Both batters were walking down the track to disrupt the lines of the bowlers, and were then able to hit in their strong areas when Ellie Threlkeld came up to the stumps.
Where The Blaze chase felt more measured, there were more gaps in the field. With the boundaries pushed out, there were options for runs, and when the boundaries weren’t on offer, there were ones and twos available. They had raced to fifty from the first 28 balls, and Kelly and Elwiss were both in control, forcing Thunder to rotate their bowling in an attempt to disrupt the flow. Thunder needed a wicket and had to hope that the batters stepping up wouldn’t adjust to the pace, with nine an over the required rate for most of the innings.
Tara Norris made the breakthrough, Kelly going for 40, having tried to hit over mid-off, but unable to clear the tall Sophie Ecclestone. Elwiss followed shortly after, with a second successive fifty. Her 53 took the score from 101 for none to 109 for two. It could have been good reason for The Blaze to lose their focus, but Kathryn Bryce is as cool as they come when chasing, and she judged her charge perfectly. A 29-ball 49 not out followed.
With 18 needed from the last two overs, Thunder turned to Sophie Morris, the young left-arm spinner, but she couldn’t stop Kathryn Bryce and Maddy Green from finding the boundary. First Bryce hit two fours in successive balls to take the total needed to nine from eight, and from there they were always favourites, especially when Green hit the last ball of the over for six. Ecclestone stood no chance of defending two from the final over.
The Blaze will be thankful they have a break now before their next game, and Thunder will be left wondering what could have been. They go again tomorrow at Chester-le-Street against Durham, and they will be keen to turn things around.
