A maiden List A five-wicket haul from Charley Phillips led The Blaze to their fourth win in the Metro Bank One Day Cup as they beat Durham by 92 runs at Banks Homes Riverside.
Durham had restricted The Blaze to 135 for seven thanks partly to Katie Levick who took three wickets, but a lower order partnership worth 83 between half-centurion Kirstie Gordon and Lucy Higham led them to a competitive total of 240 for eight.
Durham never got going in their pursuit of 241 as The Blaze got off to a great start with the ball, with Phillips blowing away Durham’s top order. The hosts failed to recover as they were bowled out for 148, with Grace Thompson falling one short of a maiden List A fifty.
The Blaze won the toss and elected to bat first, however, Durham got off to a positive start with the dangerous Tammy Beaumont bowled by Trudy Johnson in the powerplay.
Johnson then struck again as Kathryn Bryce holed out to mid-on to put Durham in the ascendency.
Prisha Thanawala played positively having lost two experienced batters at the other end, but wickets continued to fall as Levick bowled Sarah Bryce, and she then got Orla Prendergast stumped.
Thanawala then fell for a well-made 47 on debut, as she was bowled by Sophia Turner to leave The Blaze in a spot of bother.
Levick then had her third as she got Ella Claridge LBW and Emma Jones was then bowled by Mady Villiers, but Gordon and Higham led a revival for the visitors as their partnership passed 50.
The Blaze pair continued to up their scoring rate in the latter stages of their innings, but Higham was then caught and bowled by Katherine Fraser.
Despite the breakthrough, Blaze skipper Gordon reached her half-century and saw her side to a total of 240 for eight.
Durham’s chase of 241 got off to a poor start as Phillips picked up wickets in consecutive deliveries, getting Emma Marlow caught behind on the hook and bowling Hollie Armitage for a golden duck.
Phillips then got her third, pinning Australian international Tahlia Wilson in front of the stumps, and Grace Ballinger joined in as Mady Villiers was caught behind.
Phillips then got the fourth of an extraordinary spell as she splattered Bess Heath’s stumps to leave the hosts teetering on 36 for five. Fraser then fell to Higham as she chipped one to mid-on.
Emily Windsor displayed some defiance for the hosts and made a 50 partnership with Grace Thompson, who played some gorgeous shots through the offside.
Windsor then departed at the hands of Kathryn Bryce, chipping one straight to cover. Phillips then got her fifth as she bowled Turner.
The Blaze then closed in on victory as Johnson was run out and Ballinger wrapped it up by dismissing Thompson one short of a first career half-century.