Sarah Bryce was effusive in her praise of a record Trent Bridge crowd for a women’s fixture – even if the majority were cheering for her opponents in Trent Rockets yellow – after firing Welsh Fire to victory.

Bryce hit an unbeaten 51 from 39 deliveries to help her side over the line with two deliveries to spare.

The wicketkeeper-batter has become accustomed to the Trent Bridge atmosphere over the past two summers, with The Blaze also being based at the venue.

And Bryce felt able to feed off the noise of the 10,693 in attendance.

“It’s great when you get to come to grounds like this and play in front of such good crowds,” she said.

“I know the crowds here are always great from playing here with The Blaze, so it was amazing to see so many people out here watching women’s cricket.

“Hopefully we put on a good show for them and they enjoyed it. And I didn’t mind that they were rooting for the opposition! Any sort of crowd and noise makes it really exciting.

“It’s lovely to be back here, I love Trent Bridge and I love playing here for The Blaze, so it felt like home coming back today – even if I was in the away changing rooms, which isn’t quite the same!”

Welsh Fire required 17 from the final ten deliveries of the game – and while it was Bryce who stroked the winning run, she was quick to credit partner Georgia Elwiss with tilting the momentum in the visitors’ favour.

“It was a little bit tight at the end, but I think Georgia did an amazing job in the first set of that last ten to get it back down to a run a ball,” she said.

“That really eased the pressure going into that last five balls.

“We’ve had a few tight chases that we’ve been on the right end of, so we’ve taken confidence from that – and it’s been different players stepping up at different times, which as a team you definitely benefit from.”

Bryce was one of six players from The Blaze on show during the match, with Tammy Beaumont also representing the Cardiff-based side, and Nat Sciver-Brunt, Kirstie Gordon, Heather Graham and Josie Groves donning Rockets yellow.

Sciver-Brunt was stumped by Bryce having made a quickfire 37, with the England all-rounder going on to dismiss Beaumont.

And Bryce relished the inter-team battles as they unfolded.

“It’s really interesting when you play against people you usually play with, because you know each other so well,” she said.

“I think Kirstie had the better of me at times, she almost got me out with a good delivery, but it’s been great fun and it added an extra layer to the game.”