Blaze Keep Treble Hopes Alive with Win Over Somerset
The Blaze’s season of ambition rolled on at Trent Bridge, their treble bid still burning brightly after a composed six-wicket win over Somerset in the Women’s One-Day Cup.
One more victory from their final two group games and the Nottingham-based side will be back on home turf for the final on 19 September. They are not stumbling towards it either. They are striding.
Next comes the real examination: second-placed Hampshire in Southampton on Wednesday, a side who have already secured their own knockout spot and are the only serious threat to Blaze’s dominance across formats this summer.
Bryce and Jones shut the door
Chasing 193, The Blaze never looked in real danger. Tammy Beaumont set the tone with 39, blunting Somerset’s early threat and keeping the chase comfortably on track.
Then the engine room took over.
Sarah Bryce, all calm authority, crafted an unbeaten 54 from 65 balls, while Emma Jones injected tempo with 53 not out from just 44 deliveries. Together they closed the game down with 11.3 overs to spare, a ruthless margin that underlined the gulf on the day.
No late drama. No nerves. Just a professional dismantling of a target that always felt 30 or 40 runs light.
Higham strikes as Luff fights lone hand
Somerset’s total of 192 owed almost everything to their captain. Sophie Luff produced her fourth 50-over half-century of the season, once again the backbone of an innings that threatened to build but never quite broke free.
The Blaze bowlers kept dragging them back.
Spinner Lucy Higham was the standout, her 4-28 ripping through the middle order and strangling any hope of a late surge. Every time Somerset tried to rebuild, Higham found another way through.
Grace Ballinger and Kirstie Gordon shared the other key moments, each taking two wickets to ensure Somerset never escaped the grip. Wickets fell regularly, momentum never settled, and by the time the visitors were bowled out, 192 felt like survival rather than a platform.
Table-toppers still setting the pace
This is a Blaze side already crowned champions in the T20 Blast and County Cup. The One-Day Cup is the final piece of a remarkable domestic puzzle, and they are playing like a team that knows exactly what is at stake.
Their win preserved a five-point cushion at the top of the 50-over standings over Hampshire, who kept up the chase with a seven-wicket victory against Yorkshire. Behind them, Surrey thrashed Essex by 118 runs, while Lancashire edged Durham by three runs at their new home on the outskirts of Preston.
The pack is still running. The leaders are not slowing.
Somerset left scrapping for third
For Somerset, the defeat stings but does not finish them. Luff’s side remain firmly in the scrap for third place and a route into the eliminator on 16 September, where the final spot in the showpiece will be decided.
Warwickshire, sitting third, also won to keep that race tight. Somerset now have no room for error.
The Blaze, though, have a different kind of pressure. Two games left, one win needed, Hampshire looming. A treble within reach.
Now comes the question that will define their season: can anyone stop them?
