Northern Diamonds come up short to suffer first Charlotte Edwards Cup defeat to The Blaze

Sarah Bryce starred with an unbeaten 67 as hosts’ The Blaze booked their place in the semi-finals after easing to a six-wicket win at Seat Unique Riverside.

The visitors required 130 to win after Nadine de Klerk and captain Kirstie Gordon restricted the Diamonds to 129-7 with a fine bowling performance. Lauren Winfield-Hill top-scored for the hosts with 40 from 47 balls, while Hollie Armitage added 23 off as many balls.

But it was tough going throughout, particularly after the first two overs only yielded one run after they won the toss and elected to bat and the visitors’ score always looked like it would be under par on a quick outfield.

By contrast, Bryce took the attack to the Diamonds bowlers, using both power and guile to propel her team ahead of the required rate.

She notched her first fifty of the competition and ended the contest unbeaten after scoring six four and three sixes.

The Blaze can now prepare for their last four fixture, while the Diamonds still have work ahead of them after suffering their first defeat.

"That's T20 cricket,” said Hazell afterwards. “Credit to them, they played well. We probably didn't have enough runs on the board, but equally we could have defended it. We just weren't quite at the races with the ball.

"But one T20 loss doesn't define us, and we'll continue to push the brand of cricket that we want to play.

"Our ambition is still to get to the final and win this competition. That's not done in the group stages. We'll turn up on Sunday against the Vipers fresh-faced and ready to go."

Winfield-Hill had trouble timing the ball in the early stages before finding her range in the fifth over, taking Nadine De Klerk for two boundaries but the visitors still had control of the scoreboard as the Diamonds mustered just 26 from the powerplay.

Gordon made the breakthrough when Dobson fell for 19 before Hollie Armitage offered a semblance of power as she found the rope three times in a bid to up the run rate. Armitage provided the foundation of the innings with Winfield-Hill with a stand worth 47 before the Diamonds captain was caught on the fence presenting Gordon with her second wicket.

Winfield-Hill manoeuvred the hosts into a decent position after working her way to 40, but Sophie Munro ended her knock with her first ball of the innings. Bess Heath and Chloe Tryon added quick runs in the closing overs with 19 and 20 respectively, but De Klerk ensured the Diamonds couldn't push towards 140 removing Heath before prising out Tryon and Lizzie Scott with the final two balls of the innings.

Marie Kelly put the pressure on the Diamonds bowlers from the off, scoring four boundaries to work herself to 19 before Scott produced an inswinger to prise out the opener.

Sarah Bryce kept up the intensity and struck Katie Levick for the first two sixes of the game over long-on. She followed that with further sublime striking to take 16 off Scott's third over, putting the visitors almost halfway to their victory target at the end of the powerplay. Bryce was in full flow at the crease, easily finding the gaps in the field.

The 23-year-old notched her first fifty of the season from 30 deliveries, whittling down the required total. Abi Glen gave the Diamonds a glimmer of hope by skittling Kathryn Bruce and Michaela Kirk in successive balls. De Klerk survived the hat-trick ball and with Bryce extinguished the hosts' hope of a miraculous comeback. The Blaze cantered over the line, securing their win with 4.2 overs to spare.

The Diamonds return to action on Sunday at Headingley when their clash with Southern Vipers follows Yorkshire Vikings’ T20 Blast encounter with Derbyshire Falcons.

"We're absolutely delighted to get through to Finals Day,” said match-winner Bryce. “It's the first time that we have been there as a team, so we're buzzing. We've continued on the form that we've been on and it's great to get our position secure.”