Villiers’ All-Round Display Powers Durham to Comfortable Win

Mady Villiers’ All-Round Show With the ball: 3/21 from 4 overs of off-spin Dismissed Georgie Boyce and Grace Ballinger late on to restrict The Blaze to 153Key breakthroughs after The Blaze flew out of the blocks at 75/3 in 7 overs. With the bat: 47 off 34 balls Put on 83 for the 1st wicket with skipper Hollie Armitage (50* off 47) Set the platform for the chase, ended by a Tammy Beaumont boundary catch. Bess Heath finished it with 36 off 18. Her innings was ended by a stunning boundary catch by England's Tammy Beaumont but her part in an opening stand of 83 with skipper Hollie Armitage, who went on to make an unbeaten 50 off 47 balls, gave Durham just the platform they needed to inflict a first defeat of the season on The Blaze, with Bess Heath also in the runs, hitting 36 from 18 balls. Georgia Elwiss, on her 35th birthday, top scored for The Blaze with 31 from 24 balls and skipper Marie Kelly hit 28 from 15 but 153 always looked tough to defend. Yet, after being asked to bat first, The Blaze had flown out of the blocks in their innings. Kelly and Beaumont plundered 40 from the first 26 deliveries. The Blaze started fast: 40 off 26 balls from Marie Kelly and Tammy Beaumont But lost both in the powerplay, then stalled: Georgia Elwiss top-scored with 31, Emma Jones 24 off 13Durham chased it down comfortably, Armitage and Heath seeing them home. Bottom line: England all-rounder Mady Villiers starred with 3/21 and 47 to lead Durham to a comfortable 7-wicket win over The Blaze at Trent Bridge, keeping Durham’s strong start to the Women’s Blast going. The last five overs arrived with Durham needing 30 and though Heath soon departed to a catch in the deep, Armitage and Graham kept the board moving so that just two were needed off the final over, Graham needing only one ball more to get the job done with a four off Elwiss.