The Blaze come out on top at Exmouth
Tammy Beaumont and Georgia Elwiss posted measured half centuries to guide the Blaze to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Somerset in the Metro Bank One Day Cup women’s competition at the Maer Ground in Exmouth.
Crafting her highest total of the season, Beaumont contributed an unbeaten 99 from 109 balls with 12 fours and a six and shared in a match-winning stand of 131 for the third wicket with Elwiss, who made 72 from 76 deliveries and hit 11 boundaries, as the visitors chased down a target of 223 with 10.5 overs to spare.
Anika Learoyd top-scored with a disciplined innings of 97 from 118 balls as Somerset recovered from 33 for three to post 222 for nine after being put in, but Kirstie Gordon and Charley Phillips claimed two for 37 and two for 33 respectively to spearhead an impressive Blaze performance in the field. A fifth straight win enabled the Blaze to maintain their lead over Hampshire at the top of the table, while a fourth consecutive defeat saw Somerset lose further ground on the front-runners.
Skipper Gordon won the toss, inserted the home side on a drying pitch and watched her seamers make short work of the top order. Grace Ballinger created pressure at one end, while wickets fell at the other as Somerset slipped to 33 for three in an underwhelming powerplay. Phillips accounted for openers Niamh Holland and Bex Odgers and Orla Prendergast struck with her third delivery, bowling Sophie Luff via an inside edge as the Blaze applied an early stranglehold.
Australia A international Learoyd and Jess Hazell defied bowler-friendly conditions to stage a partial recovery, the fourth-wicket pair proving adept at rotating the strike as they added 53 in 14.5 overs. But just as scoring became easier, Gordon made a double intervention with her slow left arm to reduce the hosts to 96 for five and reassert East Midlands authority. Hazell had accrued 32 from 52 balls when she dragged a slanting delivery onto her stumps, while Katie Jones was lured onto the front foot and stumped by Sarah Bryce.
Things might have gone from bad to worse for Somerset had Elwiss, fielding at extra cover, not put down a presentable chance offered by Learoyd on 21 off the bowling of Prendergast. The Australia A international made the visitors pay, batting with great restraint and maturity to raise a half century from 81 balls. Demonstrating an understanding of the conditions and the situation her team found itself in, Learoyd worked the field to accrue singles and punished the bad ball when it came along, in the process providing the innings with a stabilising influence.
Finding acceleration when it was needed, Somerset’s overseas hired hand brought pressure to bear on the fielding side for the first time, helping herself to 10 boundaries before falling to a brilliant return catch from Kathryn Bryce just three runs short of a hundred. Having played second fiddle in a restorative stand of 94 for the sixth wicket, Alex Griffiths opened her shoulders to contribute 43 from 58 deliveries, including the only six of the innings, as Somerset achieved respectability.
Required to make the most of the new ball, Somerset struck an early blow, Griffiths inducing Marie Kelly to chip to mid-on. Leg spinner Lola Harris then pinned Kathryn Bryce lbw in her first over from the sea end to further reduce Blaze to 48 for two in the 11th. But England batter Beaumont remained unfazed by events at the other end, mustering a series of eye-catching cover drives to afford the reply crucial momentum.
Refusing to allow herself to become tied down, new batter Elwiss demonstrated attacking intent from the outset, punishing anything short of a length and matching Beaumont blow for blow in a progressive third wicket partnership which threatened to take the game away from Somerset.
Elwiss was first to 50, reaching that landmark from 53 deliveries with seven fours. Beaumont’s half century occupied 73 balls and included six boundaries. Luff recalled leading wicket-taker Griffiths and deployed debutant off spinner Jasmine Westley in an attempt to engineer a breakthrough, but an asking rate of four an over meant the third wicket pair were able to go about their business without taking undue risks.
Westley claimed a first professional scalp, having Elwiss held by Luff at mid-wicket with the score 179 for three in the 34th, at which point the visitors required a further 44 at less than three an over. Enjoying the best of the conditions, Beaumont was left tantalisingly short of three figures as Sarah Bryce hit the winning boundary in the early-evening sunshine.
At the end of the game, Anika Learoyd said: “If we’re going to be honest about it, we didn’t set ourselves up well enough in the first 10 overs. It was tough at 33 for three, but Jess (Hazell) and I put together a decent partnership. It was a case of absorbing pressure at the same time as trying to play with intent. We focused on putting the bad ball away and it eventually became a bit easier out there.
“That was a big ask for me, because I’m not renowned for my patience. I held my cards a little bit closer to my chest for a little longer than I would usually have done. I was able to expand when Alex Griffiths joined me, but we were 40 or 50 short and it was always going to be difficult to defend 222.”
