Important win for the Blaze
Queen’s Park, Chesterfield was meant to be the stage for Ellyse Perry’s grand entrance—but
it was her fellow Australian, Heather Graham, who stole the show. Graham’s 73 saw The
Blaze win by 37 runs with 11 balls to spare.
The mid-tournament break over and a Hampshire side in need of some inspiration, with
Perry’s new side in fourth, a fair gap between them and The Blaze in third.
Perry duly struck with her first ball after being introduced, inducing the edge from Kathryn
Bryce, one of The Blaze’s in-form batters. The home team found themselves in bother at 28
for four.
The Blaze had an Australian international of their own in Heather Graham, and with Ella
Claridge an international player for the USA, The Blaze needed to rebuild on a ground where
the outfield was willing the ball to race to the boundary rope.
It wasn’t that The Blaze were going along at a slow rate; they had just found ways to lose
their top order before they could fully take advantage of the conditions. The Blaze prefer to
chase, and with the chance of showers interrupting proceedings later, it was an important toss
for Hampshire to win.
At 49 for four at the end of the powerplay, it was going to be difficult for The Blaze to build
their way back. Graham was the one player to keep her head and was able to pick the right
ball to smash to the fence. Her first six required fielders, spectators, and stewards to look for
the ball in the backdrop of the tree-lined park.
Claridge had a simple job: get down the other end and let Graham do the damage. Graham
was the top scorer in the innings with 73 from 47 balls and, with Claridge, added 76 for the
fifth wicket before Perry—who else—took a caught-and-bowled chance to rid her team of her
fellow international.
Claridge, who has found chances more difficult to come by this year, started to go through the
gears—the same sort of innings that had seen her have a breakthrough season last year. With
Graham gone, it was now her job to find the boundary, and with the close of the innings fast
approaching, she managed a fifty from 36 balls to finish unbeaten on 51 and, more
importantly, propel her side to 188 for six.
It was a good comeback from the East Midlands-based side and showed the virtues that their
captain, Kirstie Gordon, has instilled in them.
On a good pitch with a fast outfield, it was always going to be a difficult total to defend.
They needed early wickets and got the prize wicket of Perry for 12. The always difficult-to-
hit Kathryn Bryce, with her variations of pace, managed to get Perry to mistime a drive into
the grateful hands of Gordon.
Rhianna Southby, the Hampshire keeper, was carrying the innings with a superb 64 from 42,
and while she was in the middle, Hampshire were still in the game. Others had fallen cheaply.
A partnership of 54 with Abi Norgrove for the sixth wicket was keeping the game just in the
‘this could be close’ territory, but when Norgrove was bowled by Bryce for 19, the wheels
started to come off for Hampshire. Indecisive running between the batters and a bullet direct
hit saw two Hampshire players run out.
The Blaze kept chipping away at the wickets and, with it, Hampshire’s hopes
