Surrey fell to defeat in the final as The Blaze made it a domestic T20 double in a rain-shortened Vitality Women’s T20 County Cup Final at Old Trafford
Kathryn Bryce was the star of the final, taking four for 18 with the ball before hitting a crushing 38 not out to lead her side to victory by seven wickets in a match that was reduced to 13 overs per side.
Surrey struggled for momentum with the bat in their 13 overs as they posted 91/8 from their 13 overs, which was chased down with an over to spare.
Emma Jones gave The Blaze’s reply a rapid start with 22 from 14 balls and although she and Tammy Beaumont both holed out off Alice Monaghan, Georgia Elwiss joined Kathryn Bryce in a decisive third wicket stand of 40 in four overs.
Bryce was joined by her sister to scamper the winning single with an over to spare, ending unbeaten on 38 from 30 balls to leave no doubt about the player of the match award.
Surrey had just held off Somerset in their high-scoring five-over semi final only to fall short in the title deciding match as they had against Lancashire when the T20 County Cup was introduced last summer.
Kira Chathli top-scored with 25 from 23 balls but after she was run out by a smart piece of work from Sarah Bryce, the elder Bryce sister took over with her nagging inswing – and she had remarkable figures of four for eight until Alice Davidson-Richards plundered 10 off the last three balls of the innings.
Finals Day seemed to be heading for a complete washout as heavy drizzle fell constantly, with the indoor school at Emirates Old Trafford prepared for bowl-outs – although under regulations introduced in 2024, they would only be permitted for semi finals and not the final.
But the umpires and groundstaff pounced at the first sight of a break in the rain, and agreed on a 4:50pm start – with each of the semi finals reduced to five overs per side to leave as much time as possible for the final, which began at 745pm.
Surrey will look back at their T20 cricket with a degree of positivity this season, despite not bringing any silverware back to SE11. Bryony Smith’s side – missing key England personnel throughout the T20 summer, made Vitality Finals Day for the second successive year – only to fall to defeat to The Blaze at the Kia Oval in July – as well as reaching the final of the T20 County Cup final for the second successive summer.
