Women's Blast Game 10 - Down to the Wire v Essex
By Grockle
July 7 2026
Chloe Skelton returns in this 'do or die' game at Chelmsford where the loser of the game is probably out of the tournament as it moves on. England A players are back for this one so Skelton replaces Ruby Davis is the only change on a warm July evening.
Women's Blast Game 10 v Essex @ Chelmsford Tuesday 7 July 2026
We are down to the last games of the qualifying tournament of this season's competition and the side that loses here has probably done as much as they will while the winner is still in whith a chance of getting to the next stage.
Tonight's team includes our returning England A player (Essex also have returnees) but the side is pretty familiar;
Odgers, Luff (c), Learoyd, Holland, Griffiths, Hazell (w), Skelton, Harris, Barnes, Russell, Vukusic
Chloe Skelton in for Ruby Davis is the only change from the side that narrowly lost to Yorkshire on Friday of last week at Headingley. Sophie has won the toss and has put Essex in to bat so Grace Scrivens and the South African Aneka Bosch come out ot open against Maddie Russell whose early performances have given Somerset the confidence to give her the new ball. She goes for 9 (including a boundary from each opener) from the first and then passes the ball to Alex Griffiths who allows the bats to add another 6. We then turn to Skelton's spin early so not 'rest for the wicked' though Bosch says than you with a four and the first six from her first 2 balls. They take 15 off that one and are 30 halfway through the 'Powerplay'
Griffiths does hold her tight line and despite one four she holds them to another 7. Erin Vukusic takes an over from the Graham Gooch End for the 5th to try an add to her 11 wickets in this T20 Blast season so far in 2026. She continues to implement her deceptive slow ball with some success though when she overpitches she goes to the rope. This brings Hazell up to the stumps to keep the bats honest and in their crease as much as possible. Bosch goes for a big one from there and top edges opne straight into the air and then into the hands of Niamh Holland Bosch goes at 43 for 1 with her contribution being 18 from 11. In comes the returning Sophia Smale from her internationalwork- earlier than expected. The slow ball with a bit of spin to swing it in worked.
Griffiths continues with her third and she suffers from a lightning quick outfield which sends not much more than a push to the boundary and a second four from Scrivens brings up the 50 in the 6th with the bat on 33 from 21. After a wide Scrivens sends another one to the rope, almost doubling Alex's runs conceded. By the end of the first stage of the innings Esse have hit around 10 an over with a total of 57 - so she cam back at the end of that one having gone for 12 from the first 3 balls and 14 overall.
Liv Barnes is then introduced for the 7th. They take a liking to her as well and some good boundary fielding keeps the score in check though she does go for 13. We continue to change the scenario as the mispronounced (by the Essex people who think they know how the Irish prnounce these names - they don't it seems) Niamh Holland is the 6th bowler in 8 overs. Scrivens top edges four four to bring up her 50 at 79 for 1 with 51 from 30 with 10 fours. The defence is leaking boundaries at the moment and need to tighten this or they will be chasing something over 200 for the second game in a row.
Barnes does continue with the 9th but very little is changing as Essex look to move to 3 figures before the turnaround after 10 overs. Liv seems to have lost her frugal bowling of the early games as she goes for 24 from her two tonight and Essex have 95 for 1.
We turn to the 7th bowler of the innings as Lola Harris starts her evening's work and holds the Essex bats to 100 by the 5th ball and they turn around at 103 for 1.
It doesn't get better as Maddie Russell drops Scrivens off a 'skier' - a sitter really that shw should have taken in Erin's second over at 105 for 1. Essex move to 'Nelson' as Lola comes back on looking to keep Smale in check as she starts to open her shoulders as well. Scriven's is then dropped again by Griffiths on 65 though it was a much harder chance and would have been well caught running in from Third. They still have 10 an over at 120 for 1.
By the 14th it has become a comedy of errors as Scriven should have been out 4 times (a run out, 2 catches and a stumping chance) but she has moved into the 70s while Smale has worked herself into the 40's. Only Harris and Vukusic have seemed able to keep the batting pair in check and the wagon wheels being shown have shots all around the ground by both bats. Smale doesn't get to 50 as she goes for 43 from 28 at 142 for 2 caught by Harris off the bowling of Vukusic at the end of the 15th. 142 for 2 is the first time really the home side have dropped below 10 after a second wicket partnership of 99.
In comes Jodi Grewcock to Skelton's 3rd with 26 from her first 2. Scrivens faces first and tries a reverse sweep and is LBW for 73 from 51 at 142 for 3. Liberty Heap replaces her with a new pair both on 0 . Heap goes in the air and is caught first ball by Learoyd at 142. Gardner is in for Skelton's hat-trick ball which she digs out. Chloe comes back with a 2 run double wicket over. 144 for 4.
Barnes takes her third with 4 to go having pulled the RRR to under 9. They do find the gap however moving Essex to 150 with a Grewcock club to the boundary and with 3 to go it's 152 for 4. Griffiths will bowl out at 0 for 27 in the 18th. She'll end with 0 for 34 with a very good one bounce four from Gardner and a single to sloppy fielding. Liv will bowl out at the other end starting at 0 for 25 - having gone for 21 from her first 2. She ends with 0 for 33 a good comeback from the spinner except for the Grewcock boundary off the last ball.
Erin Vukusic takes the last one from the Cook end. Her first is a full dot ball and her second is a drop by Holland!! and they take two instead. It is just not good enough I'm afraid to say. Her slow third ball is a boundary as Gardner spots it (could have something to do with the drop the ball before!) The next is high and taken this time by Griffiths coming around the boundary. Gardner goes from 19 off 18 at 174 for 5 and Erin's third when she should have had 5!! Bryony GillGrass takes the single to get Grewcock on strike. they take 2 and Vukusic ends on 3 for 31. Somerset have come back quite well but the 100 in the first 10 means it is 9 and over and they need a good start to get these. 177 for 5 means Somerset need 178.
The Reply
Odgers and Luff once again stride out to chase a total and we need a good start from them. Sophie Munro bowls the first to Bex from the Cook end and she outside edges it straight to a very good catch from Smale. 0 for 1 after 1 ball - not what Somerset wanted at all. Learoyd finds herself in very early after her massive ton at Headingley and we need a good innings fromo her today. She is off the mark with a straight cover boundary to take the score to 5 after the first. Eva Gray takes the second from the Gooch end and Luff takes her for 2 boundaries as she moves the score on to 15 for 1 with 8 for her and 4 from Ana.
The third also comes from Munro who has the Somerset skipper coming up the wicket but she gets the ball into the hands of Gillgrass (at the second attempt) and she goes for 8. Essex take their catches and we are in trouble early on. The Blast top scorer goes for single figures. Out comes Holland with 163 needed from 17 and a half overs with 8 wickets left. Munro has fingures of 2 for 6 - also a little different from Essex in their first 3 overs.
They are 21 for 2 after 3 overs as the spin of Smale arrives in the fourth. In the fifth Learoyd looks to take on Munro as she moves to 22 from 15 and pushes her side into the 30s. Niamh has 1 presently and she will also need to 'come to the party' if Somerset are going to get anywhere near this total. 37 for 2 after 5.
Gray finishes the 'Powerplay' haing gone for 9 from her first.and she does better because she bowls Learoyd for 35 from 22 and it is 47 for 3 at the end of the 'Powerplay'. Alex Griffiths comes out to join Niamh who has 1 from 4 up to now. BIG hill to climb now as they need 131 from 14 overs with both their big hitters gone.
Grewcock takes the 7th and the 50 arrives from a kind of slog boundary from Holland off her first ball. There are 3 wides as the 7th goes for 14 in a 9 ball over. Smale returns to the attack and she suffers from infield misfields as well so it isn't just a Somerset problem. Holland starts to push the score along as she goes past 20 from 14. Skipper Scrivens brings herself on for the 9th and she has Griffiths hitting out caught by Bosch for 4 from 3 balls at 77 for 3. Holland has 24 from 16 as Jess Hazell arrives in the middle with Somerset needing a solid and long term partnership if they are going to be able to have a go at this total. To their creid though, despite the loss of wickets, Somerset reach the halfway stage with 89 for 4 on the board. Hazell has just arrived and has 2 from 4 while Niamh has moved on to29 from the 20 she has faced. It's not what Essex had but it IS in the ball park with some sensible cricket in the second half of the innings.
The 100 arrives in the second Scrivens over with a four from Holland and the next one goes over Heap to the boundary as well as Holland passes her highest score of the season while they take 17 off the over to move to 106 for 4. Essex go to Smale for the 12th and Holland goes to 50 with a four from her 28th ball at 110 for 4. They need 68 from 52 as she passes that personal milestone.
They have 113 at the end of the 12th and Esmae MacGregor is introduced for the first time for the 13th. She bowls Hazell with her first ball for the 3 runs she has scored and out comes Chloe Skelton to try and help Niamh keep this chase going. She is off the mark with a single and they take 13 off the over courtesy of 45 wides and a leg bye. 126 for 5 and the RRR is down to 7 as they are going at 10 an over.
Gray keeps the pressure up with the 14th but Niamh squirts a lucky four at the start to take some of that pressure off. While she is still there this game is in the balance.
With 15 gone Somerset are on 144 for 5 with Niamh Holland on 72 from 40 with Skelton just supporting on 4 from 7. They need 34 from 30 and this IS GAME ON!!
MacGregor takes the 16th and Chloe skies her second which is caught by Gray for 4. There have been 4 partnerships of 30 plus and the other partners have scored 4, 3 and 4 in three of them. Essex keep taking the catches and that may be the difference as Lola Harris comes out with the need to operate in the same supporting role as she did to her skipper in the win on her debut. Get Niamh on strike and hope she stay in.
The 150 comes from a Holland boundary at the end of the 16th. It moves her on to 77 from 42 and her coujnty need 28 from 24 as Smale bowls out with the next starting at 0 for 24. It has been pointed out on commentary that where Somerset dropped catches and misfielded, Essex have bowled 18 wides presently.
Lola gets off the mark for the first time this season with a two. Smale finishes with 0 for 30 and it's 22 from 18 that Somerset require. MacGregor bowls her third and she bowls Harris for 2 to take her third at 3 for 18 in 3 overs it's 159 for 7 with Liv Barnes coming in for the first time in the Blast this season. She gets off the mark with a two. 12 balls and 17 needed.
Munro bowls the 19th and a full toss first ball is fired to the boundary by Holland bringing up her best ever T20 score as she then takes a two to make it a 'run a ball' game. With 6 balls to go they need 7 from the last over but Barnes is on strike. MacGregor takes the last presently at 3 for 20 so there is a reasoon why she has the last.
Essex should not be too unhappy that Liv is on strike but they get a single off the first to get Niamh on strike with 5 to go. Niamh takes 3 from the next as mid off takes enough pace off the hit to keep it inside the rope. Barnes skies the ball and is caught by the keeper to go for 4 from 5. In comes Maddie Russell - no pressure 'Mads' facing Macgregor with 4 wickets needing 3 runs from 3 balls and she will be facing. She gets a very close single. If that had hit she was out. Holland gets the 2 and that was brilliant. Holland finishes with 93 run 52 ball winning knock - what a great ininngs and a very strong win. Maddie ends with 1 not out. Well played Niamh Holland scoring over half the runs as only Ani Learoyd is the only othere Somerset bat to score double figures. Esmea MacGregor finishes with 4 for 26 on a losing effort as Somerset hold the line and keep the hopes alive after that 2 wicket win with a ball to spare.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2026:07:10:09:54:06 by Grockle.
Meanwhile Hampshire did us a favour today, beating Notts-based The Blaze. They are now in the 4th qualifying spot just two points ahead of Somerset, who they play at Trent Bridge on Friday.