The Blaze vs Sunrisers on June 4 (11h00) at Nottingham (Trent Bridge)
Unbeaten Blaze put in another ‘professional performance’ to secure ‘top spot,’ chalk-up their 6th successive win, and book their place on finals day as group-stage winners. England pair Nat Sciver-Brunt [58 runs (from 30 balls)] and Tammy Beaumont [41 runs (from 30 balls)] made a century 2nd wicket partnership (102 runs.) England’s bowler-turned-batter Sarah Glenn closed 43*not out (from 29 balls.) Although 7 Sunrisers batters made double-figures, commentators said they were ‘never in the (run) chase.’ Commentators were Jamie Ramage (sports journalist) & Hannah Thompson-Radford (L’boro Univ, & HerGameToo.) Video highlights from ECB online (NV Play) with full match video from The Blaze – please see below. Weather was described as ‘perfect sunny morning,’ with clear blue sky.
Blaze innings *Skipper Kirstie Gordon* [Amara Carr keeping wicket for Sunrisers] *England’s Tammy Beaumont, Nat Sciver-Brunt & Sarah Glenn. *Scotland’s Kathryn & Sarah Bryce. *International player Nadine deKlerk (Republic of South Africa) *Following 3 ‘wides’ from Eva Gray, Sarah Bryce ‘chopped-on’ from an inside edge to pads & stumps and dislodged her bales; for a 1st ball ‘duck.’ *After 6 overs PowerPlay, Blaze were 77/1. *England pair Nat Sciver-Brunt and Tammy Beaumont made a century 2nd wicket partnership (102 runs.) *Commentator’s curse struck anticipating that ‘records could soon start tumbling.’ *Next ball, having hit ‘six’ (plus 9 ‘fours’) Nat Sciver-Brunt 58(30), was caught at ‘backward-square’ by Jo Gardner from Abtaha Maqsood. *By mid-way, Blaze were 112/2. *2 wickets fell during 12th over. *Firstly, Tammy Beaumont 41(30) ‘made the charge,’ but was ruled ‘leg before’ to Kate Coppack. *2 balls later, Marie Kelly (batting lower down the order) went ‘leg before’ for a 2nd ball ‘duck,’ also to Kate Coppack. *150 runs came from 15.1 overs. *2 balls later, Georgie Boyce 21(16) was stumped by Amara Carr from Abtaha Maqsood (2/33.) After 100 balls (16.4 overs) Blaze were 159/5. *Sarah Glenn was dropped -always a difficult chance- for Jo Gardner, whilst running, from Mady Villiers’ bowling. *Next over, Nadine deKlerk 13(8) steepled a top-edge, caught by Kelly Castle, from Eva Gray (2/29.) *Sarah Glenn made second-best score 43 *not out (from 29 balls) & Sophie Munro made 9*not out from 4 balls. Blaze chalked-up the third-highest t-20 score this season: 198/6. *Best Sunrisers bowler was Eva Gray (2/29)
Sunrisers innings Skipper Kelly Castle [Sarah Bryce keeping wicket for Sunrisers] ‘Unchanged’ with England U-19 skipper Grace Scrivens; Scotland’s Abtaha Maqsood & International player Dane vanNiekerk (Republic of South Africa) *Mady Villiers 5(7) was caught by Kirstie Gordon at ‘mid-off’ from Sarah Glenn. *Lissy MacLeod 16(10) went ‘leg-before’ to Nat Sciver-Brunt. *Dane v.Niekerk 13(14) top-edged, caught by Sarah Glenn from Nat Sciver-Brunt. *After 6 overs PowerPlay, Sunrisers were 46/3 (vs 77/1.) *Amara Carr was caught (running catch from ‘mid-wicket’) by Kirstie Gordon from Sarah Glenn. *By mid-way, Sunrisers were 64/4 (vs. 112/2) *Mini collapse when 4 wickets fell for 3 runs. *Flo Miller was ‘run out’ by Kirstie Gordon, at the non-striker’s (bowler’s) end. *Jo Gardner went ‘leg before’ to Nadine deKlerk. *2 balls later, Sunrisers’ top scorer Grace Scrivens 20(26) was caught at ‘mid-wicket’ by Sophie Munro from Nadine deKlerk. *Next over, Eva Gray was caught short of ‘fine leg’ by Georgie Boyce from Grace Ballinger. *After 100 balls (16.4 overs) Sunrisers were 95/8 (vs 159/5.) *Two wickets fell during Sophie Munro’s final ‘death’ over when both Kate Coppack 19(18) and Kelly Castle 10(15) were clean-bowled; leaving Abtaha Maqsood ’not out.’
Match summaries Blaze’s England trio posted 142 runs out of their total (198.) Nat Sciver-Brunt and Tammy Beaumont made a century 2nd wicket partnership (102 runs.) England’s bowler-turned-batter Sarah Glenn closed 43*not out (from 29 balls.) Set a mammoth target around the 200-mark, Jamie Ramage anticipated at least one big score. 7 Sunrisers batters made double-figures, showing spirited resistance. Once 4 wickets fell for 3 runs, and with escalating required-run-rate, the balance tilted irrevocably in Blaze’s favour. Blaze chalked-up their 6th successive win, and booked their place on finals day as group-stage winners. As reported below, Nadine deKlerk is the competition’s top wicket-taker, with 13 wickets-to-date. Jamie Ramage’s report from URL: https://deepextracover.com/2023/06/sunrisers-vs-blaze-match-report/ Sunrisers match report from URL https://www.sunriserscricket.com/post/match-report-the-blaze-v-sunrisers
Match result: The Blaze Women 198/6 beat Sunrisers Women 114/10 (target 199 from 20 overs) by 84 runs
*Blaze’s batting: 198/6 (20/20 overs @9.9 runs-per-over); Natalie ‘Nat’ Sciver-Brunt 58(30), Sarah Glenn 43 *not out (29), Tammy Beaumont 41(30), Georgie Boyce 21(16), Nadine deKlerk 13(8); Sunrisers’ bowling: Eva Gray 2/29, Abtaha Maqsood 2/33, Kate Coppack 2/41; Fow: 1-4, 2-106, 3-122, 4-122, 5-153, 6-188.
*Sunrisers’ batting: 114/10 (20/20 overs @5.7 r-p-o); Grace Scrivens 20(26), Kate Coppack 19(18), Alice ‘Lissy’ MacLeod 16(10), Dane v.Niekerk 13(14), Flo Miller 12(13), Amara Carr 10(11), Kelly Castle 10(15); Blaze’s bowling: Sarah Glenn 2/9, Nadine deKlerk 2/10, Natalie ‘Nat’ Sciver-Brunt 2/16, Sophie Munro 2/18, Grace Ballinger 1/29; Fow: 1-15, 2-33, 3-38, 4-56 ,5-81, 6-81, 7-82, 8-84, 9-112, 10-114.
*Scorecard with video highlights, courtesy of ECB via NV Play at URL: https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/#cdc38bf13-4f50-4dde-b543-741109226324_m8cb3dea8-8367-41b7-8006-39dbc487b4d9_~scorecard & Also BBC Sport at URL https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKE1000521
*Full match video courtesy of The Blaze (starting from 10m43s/3h10m12s) via YouTube at URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8AaqTI6Xvk&t=6s
*Latest England and Wales Cricket Board tables at URL: https://www.ecb.co.uk/matches/womens-t20/table
