The Blaze 170 for 3 (Elwiss 53, K Bryce 49*) beat Lancashire 169 for 4 (Mack 59, McCarthy 1-13) by seven wickets
The Blaze gained revenge for Monday's County T20 Cup semi-final defeat as they chased 170 to beat Lancashire Thunder in their second game of the Vitality Blast women's competition at Emirates Old Trafford.
Following a home tie against Bears yesterday, opener Georgia Elwiss set up the chase with 53 off 43 balls. She shared 101 inside 12 overs for the first wicket with Marie Kelly, who contributed 40. But Kathryn Bryce's nerveless 49 not out off 29 sealed a seven-wicket win with five balls remaining.
Katie Mack had top-scored with 59 off 37 balls at the top of the order for County Cup champions Thunder, who totalled an imposing 169 for 4 having been inserted on a used pitch at the start of a double header T20 day with the Red Rose and Nottinghamshire men. This was their first game.
England leg-spinner Sarah Glenn struck once with her leg-spinners for the visitors and took a brilliant diving one-handed catch at backward point to help remove Mack on Lancashire's Pride day.
Thunder overseas Mack is playing the first three games of this competition before making way for her compatriot, the international leg-spinner Alana King. There was plenty of invention on show from Mack, who was supported by a quartet of scores in the twenties from opening partner Tilly Kesteven, Seren Smale, Fi Morris and Sophie Ecclestone.
Mack and Kesteven shared 50 inside the first six overs, and when Mack was superbly caught by Glenn off the seam of Elwiss, Lancashire were 106 for two in the 13th over.
Last year's Charlotte Edwards Cup T20 regional champions The Blaze dragged things back well for the next few overs, Glenn getting Smale stumped. But Thunder ended with a bang as 30 runs came from the last three overs, with Ecclestone hitting three fours in 22 off 15 balls and Morris two fours and a heaved six over midwicket in 27 not out off 22.
However, the runs kept coming, which was good news for The Blaze. Elwiss hoisted Ecclestone for an eye-catching six over long-on in the fourth over, added to two boundaries, as the score reached 38 without loss.
Opening partner Kelly was actually quicker out of the blocks as she and Elwiss took the score to 63 after six overs and beyond. But Elwiss was the one who went to 50, off 39 balls, by which time the score was 103 for 1 in the 12th over. Kelly had only just miscued the seam of Tara Norris to mid-off.
A feature of Elwiss's innings - and perhaps the deciding factor in the game - was how she didn't let England left-arm spinner Ecclestone settle. She returned figures of nought for 26 from 3.1 overs.
The game did tighten up when Elwiss dragged Mahika Gaur's left-arm seam to long-off, leaving Blaze 109 for 2 after 13 overs. The target became 49 off the last five overs and later 18 off two with Gaur having struck again.
But fabulous Kathryn Bryce, who hit six fours and six over long-off, and New Zealander Maddy Green took 16 off the penultimate over from the spin of Sophie Morris, including a straight six from the latter, to ice the game.
