Orla Prendergast turned in a fine all-round individual performance as The Blaze crushed Warwickshire by 70 runs to earn a spot in the Metro Bank One Day Cup knockout stages.
Prendergast top-scored with the bat for the visitors at Edgbaston, striking a fluent 69 from 73 balls and sharing in a partnership of 93 with Georgia Elwiss, who made 57, as The Blaze, put in, posted a strong total of 282-7.
She then collected a bowling return of 2/31, backing up Lucy Higham’s 4/41, as the Bears, who were firmly in the hunt in reply at 148-2 in the 30th over, lost their last eight wickets for 70 runs despite captain Katie George’s 89.
The victory saw The Blaze take a ten-point lead at the top, locking in their spot in the top three; a structure change this year means the table-toppers go straight to the final while second and third face off in a single semi-final.
Tammy Beaumont and Kathryn Bryce had also earlier added 80 for the second wicket to overcome the early loss of Marie Kelly, who was one of a haul of 5/58 collected by England quick Issy Wong.
Bryce made an effective 45 and continued on after Beaumont had nicked Phoebe Brett behind, helping the score into three-figure territory before halfway prior to falling to Brett herself.
From there, though, it was Elwiss and Prendergast’s partnership that drove The Blaze forward, with both going to their individual fifties with quickly-run twos as the score ticked towards 200.
Elwiss became Wraith’s second catch, and Wong’s second wicket, of the innings when well set, but Prendergast made up for her dismissal by joining Sarah Bryce in striking 45 off the next 34 balls.
Bryce the younger, Prendergast, and captain Kirstie Gordon did all fall to Wong before the end of the innings, but Emma Jones’ valuable 12-ball 19 at the death enabled the visitors to post an above-par total.
Two powerplay wickets, both to Ballinger, then kept the momentum going as Davina Perrin and Meg Austin were both back in the hutch quickly - the former lbw and the latter caught splendidly by a diving Beaumont in the slips.
New Zealander overseas batter Brooke Halliday, along with George, proved the main threat to The Blaze, as the duo weathered that early storm with a stand of 125 for the third wicket.
The celebrations when Prendergast removed Halliday via a Kathryn Bryce catch on the midwicket boundary, shortly after she had posted a 64-ball fifty, were therefore palpable.
It marked a sea change in the match situation, and with fresh belief, The Blaze quickly removed the big-hitting Charis Pavely for 14, Wraith for nine, and Wong for a second-ball duck.
The latter two of those scalps went to Higham, who completed an outstanding fightback with the ball to register herself as the pick of the attack and wrap up the tail as the hosts’ hopes faded.
Alexa Stonehouse became her third wicket when she holed out to Prendergast, and when George was finally uprooted via a sharp caught-and-bowled to Kathryn Bryce, falling 11 short of a century, the game was almost up.
In fact, it was officially up just four deliveries later as Higham watched Brett become the second batter to find Prendergast in the deep, provoking the celebrations as The Blaze confirmed yet another knockout-stage spot.