Tammy Beaumont batters Diamonds to take care of Blaze’s dominant begin
The Blaze 189 for 1 (Beaumont 83, S Bryce 53*) beat Northern Diamonds 185 (Winfield-Hill 56, Munro 3-35) by 9 wickets
England’s Test match double-centurion Tammy Beaumont top-scored with 83 from 62 balls as East Midlands regional ladies’s group The Blaze crushed defending champions Northern Diamonds by 9 wickets to consolidate their lead on the mid-season level within the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
Diamonds gained the toss however had been bowled out for a disappointing 185, failing to benefit from in-form opener Lauren Winfield-Hill’s 56. Sophie Munro‘s three for 35 made her the stand-out bowler for The Blaze, with ex-Southern Vipers seamer Cassidy McCarthy spectacular on debut with two for 17.
Despite the absence of their ex-South Africa worldwide Nadine De Klerk in addition to their different two England stars, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sarah Glenn, The Blaze rushed to victory in lower than half of the 50 overs obtainable to gather 4 factors plus a bonus level and keep their unbeaten document within the 2023 season, Sarah Bryce backing Beaumont up with an unbeaten 53 from 61 balls in an unbroken second-wicket stand of 156.
Diamonds conceded a stunning 37 runs in extras, together with 25 wides.
With common new-ball bowlers Grace Ballinger (injured) and De Klerk lacking, The Blaze initially struggled to comprise Winfield-Hill as Diamonds backed up their choice to bat first on what regarded an excellent pitch with a brisk begin. With the ball racing throughout a lightning quick outfield on the fairly Queen’s Park floor, the England worldwide hit seven of her 9 boundaries within the first 5 overs.
Yet The Blaze shortly discovered a strategy to stem the runs, with McCarthy – her debut delayed due to ankle surgical procedure – conceding solely 12 in an tight five-over opening spell. McCarthy was unfortunate to see Hollie Armitage dropped on 4, however left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon, again main The Blaze after her England A stint, cashed in on the different finish, having Sterre Kalis snapped up at slip for 11 earlier than Armitage was caught at mid-off.
Winfield-Hill, contemporary from an unbeaten 116 in opposition to South East Stars, accomplished a fourth fifty of this 12 months’s competitors however was bowled by off-spinner Lucy Higham, who had additionally eliminated Emma Marlow by way of a skinny edge to the keeper.
Diamonds had been 131 for 4 on the midway stage of their innings and misplaced two extra wickets with out additional rating as Munro returned on the pavilion finish with two wickets in two balls, having the harmful Bess Heath effectively caught at lengthy leg for a 19-ball 25 earlier than bowling Phoebe Turner for a golden duck.
Unable to construct any momentum, the Diamonds misplaced Lizzie Scott to a Munro slower ball, after which McCarthy gained deserved reward as Leah Dobson (24 from 28 balls) was pouched on the sq. leg boundary and Katie Levick caught behind, leaving the guests 147 for 9 within the thirty third earlier than Grace Hall and Jessica Woolston annoyed Blaze with a 13-over stand that added 38 extra to the chase.
Nonetheless, with a required charge of beneath 4 runs an over to finish a fifth win of the season, The Blaze had been comfortably positioned at 62 for one after the ten powerplay overs, Marie Kelly the one casualty when she bottom-edged leg spinner Levick into her stumps.
Beaumont and Sarah Bryce wanted solely seven overs to rack up a fifty partnership, with the goal right down to lower than 100 by the 14th over with alternatives to seek out the tree-lined boundary being provided all too regularly by the Diamonds assault, who had been additionally responsible of handing their opponents a gradual provide of reward runs in wides and leg-byes.
The England opener’s half-century got here off 49 balls quickly after she had lofted a ball from Woolston again over the bowler’s head for the primary six of her two sixes with The Blaze wanting to ensure the win got here with the bonus level for recording a scoring charge of 1.25 or extra instances that of their opponent.
Fittingly, it was Beaumont who completed the job within the twenty fifth over together with her eleventh 4 to go together with the 2 sixes.