Women's Blast Game 6 - In the Warks Again!!
By Grockle
June 7 2026
The return fixture against the Bears sees them come to us for the first part of a double header. Somerset go into this match unchanged from the unit that beat Surrey at the Oval last weekend and they must be looking at extending their run against a side they have already beaten once this season. Warwickshire have won the toss and will bat first this morning in greyish but dry conditions.
Women's Blast Game 6 - v Warwickshire Bears @ Taunton 7 June 2026
Having beaten the Bears once this season we are probably in the driving seat and given our present record in this tournament we probably should be confident of continuing the progress. Though nothing is certain in this game so we will wait and see how the game develops.
Somerset go into this one with an unchanged side from the Oval victory last week and that means the lineup will be;
Bex Odgers, Sophie Luff (c), Anika Learoyd, Niamh Holland, Alex Griffiths, Katie Jones (w), Chloe Skelton, Ruby Davis, Lola Harris, Olivia Barnes, Erin Vukusic
Warwickshire have won the toss and have decided to bat first on a grey overcast day which still does not feel like a weekend in June. Meg Austin and Abi Freeborn come out to open the visting innings and they will face Griffiths first from the MT End. The first boundary from Austin to the Gimblett is followed by another into the same gap before the end of the first which ends with the Bears off the mark with 14 for 0 wicket
Olivia Barnes opens from the River End and they move to 20 after 12 balls. Skelton is the third variation in the third over and she breaks the partnership sending Freeborn back with a catch from the skipper at backward point at 21. She goes for 6, Georgia Redmayne replaces her and gets off the mark with a driven boundary to the Ondaatje to move the score to 25 after 3.
Liv,not to be outdone, then bowls Redmayne for 4 in the fourth with the score on 26 for 2. That brings Charis Pavely to the crease but the next chance comes from Griffiths as Austin looks to hit her straight and just misses the hands of the diving Holland running around the boundary to Long on. She got her hand to it but not enough to take the catch. Austin was on 20 and we may regret she didn't hit it a little more towards the corner of the MT to give Niamh more of a chance.
At 36 for 2 Chloe changes ends for the last in the 'Powerplay' and it ends on 42 for 2 with Austin on 26 from 21. Erin Vukusic is introduced for the next one and she gets Austin to take her on but the pace is off so she does not get the distance and finds the hands of Alex at Long Off. She departs for 31 and we have them at 48 for 3 with Nat Wraith (of Western Storm fame) walking out to take her place. Holland starts her account today from the River with the 8th and the visitors go to 50 from the 4th ball as Wraith gets off the mark with a single. 51 for 3 after 8 is a decent position to be in.
Lola Harris is the next bowler on the rank for the 9th. The second ball sees Wraith hitting the ball to Skelton she takes on the arm and fails miserably being run out pretty comprehensibly. 53 for 4 with Wraith run out for 2. The 'turnaround' over sees Barnes return to the River end at 59 for 4 and she has Pavely driving upwards straight to extra cover caught by Learoyd for 13 at 61 for 5.
Surenkumar is the next Warwickshire bat and at the halfway point the Bears have 65 for the loss of 5 with both bats on 2 with the other bat now being one of the Taylors - Mary in this case. Surenkumar misses one of Lola's and then top edges the next to point and the grateful Ruby Davis and the wickets keep going down. She goes for 3 at 68 for 6 and out comes Alexa Stonehouse to face Niamh for the 12th but she does not survive the over as she edges a drive for 1 to Luff and it is 72 for 7. We now haver the Taylors batting together as Millie is the next bat in. They are facing Erin in the 14th bowling slow balls for the first four and with a fielding mixup that gives them a single as well they move to 84 for 7. This is followed by a mis-stumping by Katie off Lola on the first ball of the 15th followed by a missed run out as Lola knocks the bail off then misses the delivery. Lola then misses a return catch and they are still there at the end of the 15th at 90 for 7.
Chloe takes the 16th for her third and she provides Anika with her second catch as Millie Taylor leaves for 13 at 92 for 8 to be replaced by their Davis. Liv will bowl out with the 17th having 2 for 17 at the beginning of her last she ends with 2 for 20 and the Bears have not yet reached 100 with 3 overs to go.
The 100 finally arrives off a no ball full toss from Holland which was wonderfully caught by Jones anticipating the error and saving the four. The free hit gets one anyway as Mary Taylor tries to push the score on with some boundaries while farming the strike as much as possible. She moves the score on against Skelton and with 1 to go they have reached 115 for 8 as Chloe ends with 26 for 2 from her 4.
Niamh will bowl out with the final one. Taylor finishes with 31 from 32 (the top score) while Davis gets 8 from 11 and they finish on 123 for 8 leaving Somerset a target of 124 to win.
The Reply
Sophie Luff and Bex Odgers come out to start the reply against Alexa Stonehouse from the MT and Bex is off the mark with a single before her skipper hits the first boundary of the game to take her side to 7 off the first. Charis Pavely takes the second and Bex looks to get herself off and running getting her own first boundary and moving to 10 by the end of the second at 21 for 0 courtesy of 3 wides at the end of the second. Mary Taylor takes the third to allow Stonehouse to change ends for the 4th. Stonehouse breaks through as she puts an end to another Odgers innings where she looks good but then goes to a deep catch by Pavely on 25 from 16. That brings Anika Learoyd out as Taylor continues with the 5th and she gets the skipper ball two as Sophie comes down the wicket, misses the ball and is given out LBW for 7 at 38 for 2. That brings out Niamh Holland
In the next part of the innings it is the new bat looking to push the score along and a guided four from her takes the side past 50. 51 for 2 off 35 balls with Holland moving on to 13 from 9 at 53 for 2 at the end of the 'Powerplay'. Hannah Baker takes the 7th and captain Georgie Davis doubles up the spin by coming on for the 8th. By the 9th, Anika is starting to get into her stride as well (10 from 8) as Niamh who has moved on to 21 from 17. Somerset need less than 50 to win as a misfield on the boundary moves them to 80 for 2.
Millie Taylor takes the 10th and as the innings turns for the home straight Somerset have a 50 partnership in 30 balls with Learoyd on 17 from 12 and Holland on 31 from 30. 90 for 2 needing 34 runs to win. Davis returns for the 11th but it is Pavely who breaks the partnership by bowling Learoyd who steps away to cut a ball that isn't quite where she thought it was. She leaves for 20 from 21 at 92 for 2.
Alex Griffiths comes out hoping to put this game away. However it is Niamh who is going for it as she brings up the 100 by moving past to 42 from 30 in the 14th when at 105 she is very well caught by a diving Austin very low off Millie Taylor. A very important and probably winning contribution from Holland.
Katie Jones walks to the middle with Somerset needing 18 to win with 6.2 overs left. She is nearly out to a one handed attempt by Alexa Stonehouse first ball. It would have been a stunner had she kept hold of it. But the pair survive at 107 for 4 with 36 balls to go and 17 runs needed.
Baker takes the 15th and there is a regulation drop followed by a misfield the next ball allowing the batting pair to add two more runs. There is some hope at the start of the 15th when the Warwickshire captina takes the 16th and after she has a mistumping opportunity going begging from her first ball followed by a misfielding four. Jones steps away to cut and is bowled for 8 from 6 so she will not see the end. Instead Chloe Skelton arrives and helps see the home side to 122 for 5 in the 16th. They need 2 and Chloe smacks a one bounce four to take her score to 6 from 4 with her partner Alex Griffiths on a run a ball 10. At 126 for 5 they win by 5 wickets with 3.4 overs left of the game.
A well organised side on a roll have won against a side who have lost 6 from 6 and the confidence showed. Still some things to learn from the win but it was a solid well drilled win to keep the momentum going. Very good win. 19 points from 6 games is well ahead of where we thought they might have been... and they deserve every one of the points they have,
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:06:10:10:22:42 by Grockle.
