By Grockle
September 6 2026

The sharp end of the Metrobank is upon us.  We go to Trent Bridge to take on the already qualified Blaze.  We are fourth 1 point behind Warwickshire BUI with the game next week (at the COUNTY GROUND for those not aware) in hand.  We are there because of the stupendous victory at Leeds on the weekend defending 130 runs!!  The top three fight for places in the Final with the leader going straight to the Ultilita bowl while 2 and 3 fight out a 'semi final' to decide who they face.  It's all to play for here.

 Women's Metrobank v The Blaze @ Trent Bridge Sunday 6 September 2026

After the tremendous comeback at Headingley, we go into this game well in the hunt for the third or even second place in this tournament.  We have a game in hand but would love to beat the probable finalists in Nottingham today.  We'll need a better batting performance to go with something from the bowlers like the middle of the week.

Somerset go into this game with;

Odgers, Luff (c), Corney, Holland, Hazell, Jones (wk), Griffiths, Skelton, Westley, Anderson, Harris

No change from the mid week games and the ECB have made it more difficult by taking 2 of our internationals to play Ireland during the second week of September.  No Dani Gibson or Charlie Dean.  Heather Knight is a confusion at the moment as she has retired from the international mode of the game but no one seems sure what her plans are for domestic involvement if any.  She has played for the county in T20 since that retirement but not at 50 over and this will be the end of her invovlement in this format this season one would imagine.  Erin Vikusic has a back issue and so would not have been involved in this (though most of her involvement was in the 20 over stuff) anyway, who would you replace from the last line-up?

Blaze has won the toss and will bowl first so Bex Odgers and Sophie Luff walk out to face Grace Ballinger and Charlie Philips at 10:30 today.  Ballinger opens for the home side and both Luff and Odgers get off the mark but initial going is slow.  After 5 overs the total has moved to 6 with Odgers on 2 and Luff on 4 but no boundaries so far and the Blaze bowlers are on top in the early overs.

In the 6th from Ballanger the pressure gets too much for Bex as she goes at a shorter one that holds a bit in the surface and she pulls the ball to Prisha Thanawala goes for 2 at 7 for 1.  In comes Emma Corney who hits the first clean boundary from her first ball to start with a four.

Corney's early promise comes to nothing unfortunately as Phillips gets one to 'spit' in the 7th and it rises to Emma and she gets a ballooning edge which Sara Bryce dives to take one handed and it is 15 for 2 with Niamh Holland in the middle and Corney is back in the pavilion for 4 from 5 balls.

At the end of the 'Powerplay', the momentum is with the Blaze bowling attack though the Somerset batting pair are working hard to maitain their involvement in the game at 10 overs.  The Somerset skipper is on 13 from 27 but Holland still has nothing to her name after 11 balls.  The total is 22 for 2, there has not been a bowling change yet but keeper Bryce has come up to the stumps for the 11th from Phillips.

Katie Bryce is the first change and bowls a maiden for the 12th.  Skipper Kirstie Gordon brings herself on for the 13th and the Somerset bats seem to feel that they have found their footing a little and are looking to push the score along with boundaries off the spinner. 

In the 14th Katy gets a feather from Sophie but sister Sara drops the catch and we remain 2 wickets down with 47 on the board and the skipper still there dropped on 32.  In the 15th Luff lifts the ball over mid off for a four to take Somerset to 52 for 2 and herself to 36 from 46.

Blaze bring on Josie Groves in the 18th and the more confident Somerset pair welcome her with a Sophie Luff 50  with 52 from 55 - so she's accelerated into this innings after a very scratchy and slow start.  Niamh is also coming to this batting party with 17 from 30 after taking a third of those deliveries before she go off the mark.  Groves' first over goes for 9 - more than the first four overs of the game went for in total.  

The Groves' introduction allows Kathryn Bryce to change ends for the 19th.  Against the new setup, Sophie becomes as little too confident and she goes up the wicket to one Bryce sister, misses the ball and is stumped by the other Bryce sister for 52 when she was getting settled.  Not the best decision she has made this season.  81 for 3 in the 19th brings Jess Hazell to the crease and a new phase of the game starts.

After 20 overs the score has moved on to 87 for 3 with Holland  on 20 from 37 and Hazell still to start her runs this morning.  Jess is off the mark with the last ball of the 21st over from Kathryn Pryce and is then dropped by the same player off the fifth ball Groves' 22nd at 90 for 3 as she slaps the ball straight to her and she fails to hang on falling forward - seemed surprised it came at that pace.  They've moved to 99 at the end of the 23rd and a four from the second ball of the next takes them to 103 with Holland on 26 and Hazell on 6.  In fact the bleed Groves for 13 off the 24th.

The drinks break arrives at the halfway point after Gordon takes the 25th.  Somerset have reached 116 as the last ball of the first half is delivered and Niamh Holland on 32 is bowled by a really low one she could do very little with it hardly bounced and took out the off stump.  She faced 47 balls but that is it and Katie Jones will wak out for the second part of this innings.

The second half does not start well as Jes Hazell goes limply at the start of the 27th simply lobbing the ball straight to Phillips for 20 from 30.  121 for 5 and Alex Griffiths arrives in the middle.  With 5 wickets down the batting out of the whole allocation of overs and a score somewhere above 250 are both looking very doubtful. 

Lucy Higham is introduced in the 29th for the first time and the third drop for the Blaze comes from the captain with Jones on 4 at 129 for 5.  They have moved to 131 when they reach the 'double it from here' situation at 30 overs.  That suggests something over 250 and they would be very happy with that I would assume.  If these two , Chloe, Ellie, Lola and Jas get them there they will have done very well.

Ballinger is back for the 33rd - possibly in the hope of wrapping this innings up early but both bats are doing well and have moved the score to 144 by the end of it with the pair both on 11.  But the wickets keep falling as Higham gives her next over second ball some air Jones is stumped down the legside with the keeper standing up.  Katie goes at 144 for 6 with 11 off 24.  In comes Westley in the 34th which Higham closes out as a wicket maiden.

The 150 arrives with a leg bye in the 37th off Ballinger.  In the 38th Westley goes down the ground once too often and she dies for 5 from 17 as tammy Beaumont catches her out from Higham and it is 164 for 7 and we did NOT need that kind of aggression this far from the end of the innings.  In comes Chloe Skelton to work with Alex (23 from 31) to keep the progress moving hopefully.

Higham takes the 40th and Somerset go into the last 10 at 171 for 7.They push on but inevitably in the 44th when Higham gets Skelton for 8 for 22 bowled with one that turned in. 184 for 8 and the objective now should realistically be to get as far past 200 as possible.  Ellie Anderson now comes in to give Alex as much of the strike as possible.  Lucy Higham has 3 wickets and has bowled 30 dot balls in her 8 overs - good work from the Notts spinner.

Phillips is back for the 45th and with 5 to go we have 188 with 2 wickets still left.  Alex  looks to push on but is fooled by Higham who gets one past her and she is bowled at 191 for 9 for a very useful 38 from 51.  Lola Harris is the last bat in and Ballinger comes on at the other end for the 46th and she bowls the new bat with the first of her over and the second Lola faced.  The big partnership between Luff and Holland of 66 was not built on and wickets kept falling.  The bowling, especially of Higham (4 for 28) but also Ballinger (2 for 27) and Gordon (2 for 48) kept on digging and we eventually ran out of partners for the stubborn Alex Griffiths as the end of the line-up.  Somerset have 192 to defend and it willbe a BIG job to keep the league leaders away from that total.

Women's Metrobank Down to the wire in Notts

Discussion started by Grockles.com , 06/09/2026 10:48

Grockles.com
06/09/2026 10:48

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:09:06:13:20:14 by Grockle.

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Grockle
06/09/2026 13:30

Not sure they are going to be able to pull off the same Houdini trick twice in a week. 192 is a total that it is possible to defend but against the present League leaders one would predict that it is most likely not going to be defended and we willhave to beat Lancashire next week to get a chance at the final.

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