The Blaze maintained their perfect start to the Vitality Blast campaign with a solid four-wicket victory over Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston.
It is three wins out of three for the Trent Bridge side after they bowled with discipline to restrict the Bears to 158-8, before chasing the total with four balls to spare.
Opener Marie Kelly, assuming the captaincy for the first time this season in the absence of T20 World Cup-bound regular skipper Kirstie Gordon, struck 45 from 32 to lead the way.
Charli Knott and Emma Jones both contributed 27, the latter unbeaten, while Grace Ballinger earlier claimed 3/24 and Lucy Higham returned 2/16 from three overs.
The Bears, put in, began strongly with openers Abbey Freeborn - who made 56 from 45 deliveries - and Meg Austin, who hit a 31-ball 44, adding 95 from 62, before The Blaze hit back.
Three wickets for five runs over the next nine balls followed as the visitors ensured the second half of the innings firmly belonged to them.
Austin lifted Georgia Elwiss to Knott at long-on, before Lucy Higham disposed of Georgia Redmayne, stumped by Ella Claridge’s fast glovework, and Charis Pavely, caught - also by Knott - at deep midwicket.
The innings never regained momentum, as supreme fielder Knott then claimed a wicket of her own by having Freeborn caught behind by Claridge after top-edging a reverse-sweep on to her pad.
The Australian all-rounder then resumed her productive beat at long-on where she took her third catch, dismissing Amu Surenkumar for 27 off Ballinger.
After the first ten overs had produced an unimpeded 94 for the Bears, the next ten produced 64 for the loss of seven wickets as the visitors responded fiercely.
Nat Wraith and Alexa Stonehouse fell to Ballinger in back-to-back balls at the start of the 19th over, caught by Jones at midwicket and Kelly at backward point, respectively.
In-form Charley Phillips then finished things with a flourish as Mary Taylor became Kelly’s second catch of the innings at a very straight mid-off from the final ball.
Kelly gave The Blaze’s chase a lightning start with two fours and a six in the first over, from Alexa Stonehouse, with 16 runs already on the board after the first six balls.
Although the on-loan Surrey seamer dismissed Tammy Beaumont in her second over, Kelly and Knott motored the total to 54-1 after the powerplay and ultimately to 94-1 at halfway.
The duo added 73 from just 42 balls to put The Blaze firmly in control, and despite both falling to Surenkumar, the visitors required just 61 more from the final nine overs.
Elwiss and Claridge found 24 of them to keep the score moving along, and successive later fours by Jones off Millie Taylor meant that just 23 were needed from the final four overs.
With just three runs needed, Millie Taylor hit back to have Elwiss and Georgie Boyce both caught off successive balls, but by then, the writing was on the wall.
The inevitable then arrived two balls into the final over as Higham and Jones held their nerve to tick off the two singles they required and continue The Blaze’s 100% record.
