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The Blaze became the first side to secure a top-three finish in this Women’s One-Day Cup and a guarantee of a place in the knockout stage.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Nottingham-based side beat Warwickshire by 70 runs at Edgbaston to stretch their lead over second-placed Hampshire to five points on a day when Somerset, Surrey and holders Lancashire also triumphed.<\/p>\n
Orla Prendergast (69), Georgia Elwiss (57) and Kathryn Bryce (45) were the mainstays as The Blaze<\/b> piled up another sizable score of 282-7, England fast-bowler Issy Wong taking 5-58.<\/p>\n
Warwickshire <\/b>looked well-placed at 148-2 in the 30th over, largely thanks to skipper Katie George (89) and Brooke Halliday (52), but they slumped to 212 all out in 43.3 overs.<\/p>\n
That was thanks to the efforts of Lucy Higham (4-41) and pace ace Charley Phillips (8-2-17-1) as The Blaze secured a 10th win in 12 games, while the fourth-placed Bears remain very much in the hunt for a top-four finish.<\/p>\n
Kate Cross took a season’s best 4-33 to keep Lancashire<\/b> in the hunt with a four-wicket win over Hampshire<\/b> at Southampton.<\/p>\n
After bowling out their hosts for 223, Emma Lamb then hit 68 out of her side’s 224-6 as Lancashire resumed where they left off before the break for The Hundred with a third-straight win.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Abi Norgove hit an unbeaten 70 for Hampshire, while Freya Kemp warmed up for England’s three-game series against Ireland next week with an explosive 61 from 54 balls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n