The Blaze put behind a disappointing performance at Trent Bridge on Friday with a win against Essex, that all but seals their qualification for Finals Day of the Vitality Blast at The Oval in two weeks’ time, winning by 35 runs.
On a used pitch at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground in Chelmsford, The Blaze won the toss and chose to bat. They made two changes to the side that lost to Surrey by ten runs, with the spinning ranks being bolstered by Lucy Higham and Josie Groves. When you have a tactic that works well, you could well question The Blaze’s decision to bat first, and at 19 for two after three overs, it felt even more questionable. What The Blaze would have been aware of is the openers falling to the spin of Maddie Penna and Jodie Grewcock, both bowling their victims.
Kathryn Bryce and her sister Sarah started to rebuild the innings, adding 27 for the third wicket. It may have been a moment of madness, the game situation, or just that it was her international teammate Abtaha Maqsood that convinced Sarah B to skip down the track trying to deposit the leg-spinner into the river, only to be stumped for 12.
Kathryn Bryce carried on but was also dismissed by Maqsood for 27. The Blaze would again have to rely on a partnership between Heather Graham and Ella Claridge to help them to a defendable total. When Graham was excellently caught by Cordelia Griffith in the covers to a rifled shot, she had been in the mood for quick runs, taking just 22 balls to reach 33 before her dismissal.
At 94 for five with seven overs to go, The Blaze were in trouble of not posting a defendable score. They knew that 140 might just be enough, and Sarah Glenn and Higham managed to put on 30 runs for the eighth wicket. Had Eva Gray not taken three wickets in the last over, to bowl The Blaze out for 139, it might have been closer to 150 they were chasing.
While The Blaze have been inconsistent in the field this year, either pulling off outstanding run-outs or dropping easy catches, their bowling and fielding was never in question today. Essex’s top order let The Blaze settle in, and Cassidy McCarthy continued her fine spell of economical bowling. She had bowled 24 dot balls in her previous two matches, and 13 more followed in her first three overs, as Essex found themselves 22 for two at the end of the powerplay.
McCarthy and Kathryn Bryce gave the Essex batting only scraps to feed on, and they didn’t take it. Grace Scrivens was stumped by Sarah Bryce for two from five balls, and Lauren Winfield-Hill’s innings of eight chewed up 18 balls.
They needed someone to play a big innings to give them the impetus that Graham had provided for The Blaze. Maddie Penna and Jodie Grewcock were keeping Essex in the game, but they were striking at just over a run a ball, and with the run rate required climbing all the time, it put pressure on the rest of the order to play the big shot—and ultimately, the wickets tumbled. It was the international experience of Glenn and Gordon that accounted for the majority of these, with Glenn never looking troubled, returning figures of three for 17, while Gordon took three wickets in the sixteenth over to all but finish the game.
It was the sort of win that shows that The Blaze are still one of the teams to beat and will give them confidence going into their final two group games, before they move on to Finals Day. The fact that they won comfortably with a slightly changed side will be even more comforting.
As for Essex, it was another disappointing performance where their bowlers had put them in a good position to get something out of this game. They could still finish higher than seventh, but it isn’t looking good for them.
