The Blaze Secure Victory Over Somerset to Keep Treble Dream Alive

The Blaze kept their treble dream burning brightly at Trent Bridge, brushing aside Somerset with a composed six‑wicket win that underlined exactly why they are the side everyone else is chasing.

One more victory from their final two group games, and the Nottingham-based team will be back on home turf on 19 September, walking out at Trent Bridge for the Women's One-Day Cup final with a shot at sweeping all three domestic trophies. That possibility is no longer a distant storyline. It is looming into view.

Bryce and Jones shut the door

Chasing 193, The Blaze never looked hurried, never looked rattled. Tammy Beaumont set the tone with 39 at the top, easing through the gears and taking the early sting out of Somerset’s attack. Once she departed, the chase could have tightened. It didn’t.

Sarah Bryce and Emma Jones made sure of that.

Bryce anchored, 54 not out from 65 balls, nudging and driving, refusing to give Somerset even a hint of an opening. At the other end, Jones brought the tempo, striking 53 unbeaten from just 44 deliveries. Between them, they closed out the target with 11.3 overs in hand, a ruthless margin in a competition where net run-rate and momentum matter.

The Blaze did not just win. They cruised. It looked like a side fully aware that a treble is within reach and determined not to let the pressure touch them.

Higham leads the squeeze

Somerset’s hopes had rested on a total that could stretch the league leaders. For a while, through the familiar figure of captain Sophie Luff, they threatened to do just that.

Luff, in reliable form again, compiled her fourth 50-over half-century of the season, holding the innings together as wickets fell around her. She gave Somerset a platform. The Blaze bowlers tore it away.

Spinner Lucy Higham was the heartbeat of the effort with the ball, returning outstanding figures of 4-28. She applied the brakes, then ripped through the middle order. Every time Somerset tried to rebuild, Higham was there, drawing a mistake, turning the screw.

Grace Ballinger and Kirstie Gordon chimed in with two wickets apiece, sharing the supporting roles in a disciplined collective effort that eventually bowled Somerset out for 192. It was professional, controlled, and exactly what a side with title ambitions should produce in September.

Table-toppers hold their nerve

Elsewhere, the pack kept winning, but crucially, The Blaze kept their distance.

Their victory preserved a five-point cushion at the top of the 50-over standings over second-placed Hampshire, who brushed aside Yorkshire by seven wickets. Surrey, still in the hunt, thumped Essex by 118 runs. Lancashire edged a thriller at their new ground on the outskirts of Preston, squeezing past Durham by just three runs.

The chasers did their job. The leaders did theirs better.

And now comes the collision that has been circling the fixture list for weeks: Hampshire versus The Blaze on Wednesday in Southampton. Hampshire are already guaranteed a knockout spot. The Blaze are almost there. Almost.

Beat Hampshire and the final at Trent Bridge is booked. Lose, and the door stays ajar just a little longer.

Somerset left scrapping for third

For Somerset, this defeat cuts, but it does not close the door on their season.

They remain locked in a fight with Warwickshire for third place and a route into the eliminator on 16 September. Luff’s form, another half-century in the bank, gives them something solid to lean on. Yet the gap between a side pushing for an eliminator berth and one gunning for a treble was clear at Trent Bridge.

The Blaze looked like champions in waiting. The next two weeks will reveal whether they can finish the job.