England batter Nat Sciver-Brunt showed she is warming up nicely for this summer’s Ashes with a brutal unbeaten 96 as The Blaze crushed Central Sparks by 56 runs in the Charlotte Edwards Cup in Leicester.
It’s three wins from three in the tournament for Blaze after a powerhouse performance with the bat saw them pile up 212 for five at the Upstonsteel County Ground,
Sciver-Brunt led the way with a high-class 96 (50 balls) and it was her third-wicket partnership of 94 from 49 balls with Georgie Boyce (32, 20) that took the game away from Sparks.
The flow of the match never changed after that as accurate bowling restricted Sparks to 156 for six. Sciver-Brunt’s England team-mate Amy Jones made a sprightly 55 (36) but Kirstie Gordon (4-0-19-1) and Lucy Higham (3-0-12-1) kept an impressive brake on the scoring while Nadine de Klerk picked up two for 26.
Blaze were put in but imposed themselves from the start. Tammy Beaumont chipped the fourth ball of the innings over mid-wicket for six and former Sparks batter Marie Kelly struck three successive fours in the second over.
The openers added 35 in four overs but then fell in the space of three balls. Grace Potts bowled Beaumont through a quixotic ramp and Kelly (24, 17 balls) chipped Georgia Davis’s second ball to mid off.
Sciver-Brunt and Boyce were sooner scoring rapidly against bowling which offered them too much width. The former greeted Hannah Baker into the attack with a sweet six over long off on the way to a 28-ball half-century.
Issy Wong broke through with a slower ball that bowled Boyce but Kathryn Bryce and Sarah Glenn batted brightly briefly to offer Sciver-Brunt valuable support and keep the momentum high. With 200 on the board already, the question going into the last over was whether the England star could reach 100. She began the over on 90 and hit the first ball for four, her 15th to go with two sixes, but then lost the strike for three of the last four balls.
Under immense scoreboard pressure, Sparks lost Bethan Ellis in the third over when she chipped Higham to mid off. Higham conceding just four runs from two overs to deny the Sparks the flying start they desperately needed.
Skipper Eve Jones’s quest for rhythm was not helped by facing just 16 balls in nine overs and when she lifted Nadine de Klerk to long on, she departed with her side needing 147 from 11 overs
Amy Jones struck seven fours and two sixes but when she fell lbw, slog-sweeping, Sparks were left needing a miracle. Erin Burns departed in similar fashion to Gordon and the visitors entered the last five overs requiring 102. Abi Freeborn struck three fours in the first of those overs but, even then, the over came in well short of the required amount and, in glorious sunshine suited to a luxury cruise, Blaze cruised to victory.