Georgia Elwiss’s unbeaten 76 saw The Blaze to a battling five-wicket victory over Surrey at Trent Bridge for a fourth consecutive Metro Bank One Day Cup win.
Chasing 165, Elwiss struck six fours and one six in her 95-ball innings and shared in an unbroken 105-run stand with Emma Jones, who made 36 not out, to see The Blaze home.
Kirstie Gordon had earlier returned 3/37 from her ten overs, while Charley Phillips, Kathryn Bryce, and Lucy Higham all claimed two scalps apiece, to dismiss Surrey for 164 in 43 overs.
Only Priyanaz Chatterji passed 30 for the visitors as Josie Groves, making her first appearance of the summer, also picked up a scalp, though it was Phillips who kicked things off.
Fresh off the back of her maiden five-wicket haul against Durham on Saturday, she put the hosts on the board with only her 11th ball by knocking back Paige Scholfield’s off stump for one.
Alice Monaghan then followed before the end of the powerplay as she pulled Lucy Higham to Tammy Beaumont at square leg, where a fine tumbling catch was taken.
That left the Brown Caps at 42-2 after ten overs, though Gordon’s decision to bring herself on was instrumental as she claimed 3/6 in her first three overs, including a double wicket maiden.
Bryony Smith was her first victim, caught off an uppish pull by Higham at forward square leg, before Alice Davidson-Richards and Jemima Spence were both bowled in her next over.
A resistant partnership between Chatterji and captain Kira Chathli helped Surrey recover from the precarious 57-5 that Gordon had left them in as they added 36.
However, they were still shy of three figures by the time the next wicket went down, with Chathli lbw for 28 to become Groves’ first scalp of the season.
Debutant Aylish Cranstone contributed 20 before becoming Higham’s second wicket, pinned lbw on the sweep, but it was Chatterji to whom Surrey were indebted as they edged past 150.
When she fell to a Groves catch off Kathryn Bryce at the end of the 40th over while five shy of her fifty, however, the end was nigh for Surrey.
It duly arrived with wickets in consecutive overs shortly afterwards as Kathryn Bryce saw Dani Gregory held by Higham, before Phillips bowled Tilly Corteen-Coleman to wrap things up.
The Blaze’s chase did get off to a sticky start with the loss of three wickets inside the powerplay, but Elwiss and Sarah Bryce steadied things with a fourth-wicket partnership of 42.
A double strike for Monaghan to remove Sarah Bryce and Ella Claridge in consecutive balls did swing the momentum again, but that was to be Surrey’s last joy of the game.
From there, Emma Jones and Elwiss picked up the baton to graft through a tricky period before drinks, before carrying The Blaze home with style.
A booming six from Elwiss off Brown into the Acrisure Stand brought up three figures for the hosts just before the halfway point as the duo began to score with increasing fluency.
As the visiting attack tired, it became plain sailing for Elwiss and Emma Jones, with the former posting a first half-century of the season in 72 balls, at which point only 48 more were needed.
Further consistent boundaries kept the target ticking down, before Emma Jones finished things with almighty confidence against her old side, reverse-ramping Brown for four.
