The Blaze sink to their fourth defeat in five games, as
Thunder scrape home in a thriller.
Thunder 176 for 9 (Smale 58, Lamb 44, Gordon 3-23, Higham 3-28) defeated The
Blaze 174 (Gaur 3-33, Jones 3-37) by one wicket.
Thunder, boosted by the return of four England players, was too strong for The
Blaze as the Trent Bridge side suffered their fourth defeat in five Rachael
Heyhoe Flint Trophy meetings - but only just, squeaking home to a tight
one-wicket victory in a nail-biting finale.
England Seren Smale scored 58 and England starter Emma Lamb 44, and with
Thunder on 89 without loss in 15 overs, they appeared to be on their way to
their second win of the season. However, they slumped to 161 for 9 after a
valiant fightback by skipper and left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon, off-spinner
Lucy Higham, and England leg-spinner Sarah Glenn (2 for 33).
It was left to last-wicket combination Phoebe Graham and Hannah Jones to hold
their nerve and get their team over the line, with Jones striking the winning
boundary in the 45th over.
England's 18-year-old left-arm seamer Mahika Gaur took 3 for 33 and left-arm
spinner Jones 3 for 37 as The Blaze were dismissed for 174 in 46.4 overs.
Gordon scored 43, her biggest score since an unbroken 60 for
Scotland Women nine years ago, when the East Midlands regional side rallied
from 108 for 7, but her efforts were ultimately in vain.
After Thunder won the toss, England opener Tammy Beaumont (25), who was back in
Blaze colors for the first time this season, helped the home side to a
productive powerplay, reaching 49 for 2 from 10 overs. Still, Blaze's innings
lacked the early partnerships that could have given it genuine impetus.
Teresa Graves hit a couple of early fours but little else before being bowled
middle stump by Gaur, who then delivered a very identical delivery, full and
swinging back in, to dismiss South African international Nadine de Klerk for
three runs.
Beaumont, dropped on 24 by Graham, added just one before
being the third victim of Gaur's superb opening stretch, reaching for her shot
and chipping to the left-armer's mid-on, where Kate Cross made no mistake.
Blaze had been scoring at five an over. Still, Ellie Threlkeld's introduction of
left-arm spin at both ends put a stop to it, resulting in two wickets in quick
succession as Marie Kelly, looking well set on 23, miscued Jones to midwicket
and Glenn caught and bowled her fellow England spinner Sophie Ecclestone.
Beth Gammon and Gordon rebuilt to a degree, but Gammon was bowled to make place
for Jones, and when off-spinner Fi Morris took over at the Radcliffe Road end,
her first delivery accounted for Ella Claridge, who smashed straight into
cover.
Gordon and Sophie Munro put on 35, but a failure in
communication resulted in the latter being run out. Gordon and Higham added 29
runs in 28 deliveries before being dismissed by Jones.
The Blaze has been more effective with the ball than with the bat thus far. Still, their chances of denying Thunder appeared to be fading in the first five
overs of the reply, when new-ball duo De Klerk and Grace Ballinger struggled
with their lines and conceded nine boundaries as Lamb and Smale helped
themselves to runs.
Even after a double bowling change, Thunder advanced to 69 without loss after
10 overs, putting them far ahead of the game. However, from 89 for none in the
16th over, they collapsed, losing six wickets for 39 as the Blaze spinners
fought back.
Glenn's debut resulted in a double breakthrough, with Lamb's slog-sweep thrown
to mid-on and Katie Mack bowled for a single before Higham's off-spin took two
more wickets. Higham caught Morris at mid-on and Threlkeld at mid-off.
Smale made her half-century in 57 balls, but Thunder had lost four wickets for
21 runs.
Naomi Dattani was caught leg before on the back foot as Higham struck for the
third time, and Blaze immediately sensed an unexpected victory when Gordon
returned to the Stuart Broad End to bowl Smale, with Thunder's goal still 47
runs away.
Ecclestone and Cross calmed Thunder's worries by getting the
necessary runs below 30, but Gordon got two wickets in two deliveries, removing
Ecclestone and then pinning Gaur in front, putting the visitors in danger at
146 for 8.
As all three Blaze spinners finished their 10 overs, the balance appeared to
shift towards Cross' experience to do the job. Munro increased the strain again
when she uprooted the England bowler's middle stump with a low ball, but with
overs on their side, Graham and Jones remained calm to guide their team home.
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