Orla Prendergast’s sparkling half-century carried The Blaze to a tense win over hosts Essex at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground.

Prendergast came in with her side in peril at 61 for 5, but struck 69 not out (73 balls, three sixes) sharing an unbroken eighth wicket stand of 111 with skipper Kirstie Gordon (47 not out, seven fours) as the visitors overhauled a target of 214. Sophie Munro returned 2 for 28, including England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt for a first-ball duck.

All this came after Amara Carr‘s 50 helped Essex to an at one stage unlikely 213 all out, Jodi Grewcock making 44 while Prendergast, Grace Ballinger and Kathryn Bryce took two wickets each.

Ballinger immediately found in-swing to trap Grace Scrivens lbw and the seamer soon struck again, finding the leading edge of Lissy Macleod’s bat from one which appeared to stick in the pitch.

Grewcock and Cordelia Griffith led a recovery with a stand of 48, but the latter never found fluency and perished caught in the deep.

Grewcock, who took 15 balls to get off the mark, struck three successive fours off the errant Sciver-Brunt, only to chip one back to Gordon when in sight of her third successive half-century in the competition. Sophia Smale too played neatly before being castled by Prendergast and thereafter it was Carr against the rest.

The wicketkeeper/batter ramped Ballinger for four and later lifted one from Sciver-Brunt over the ropes in reaching her 50 before she was last out bowled by Bryce.

The home side made a fantastic start ball in hand, Carr’s athletic catch seeing the back of Tammy Beaumont to give Kate Coppack the breakthrough.

Munro, restored to the starting XI then took the prize wickets of Bryce and Sciver-Brunt with successive balls, the former with one which spreadeagled the stumps, while the latter was plumb lbw. And the hosts sensed an upset when another of Blaze’s England stars, wicketkeeper Amy Jones clipped Coppack straight to midwicket.

Marie Kelly stood firm for a while amidst the collapse, driving crisply and deploying wristy cuts to pepper the boundary rope as she threatened a pendulum shift, before a moment of madness saw her set off for a single that wasn’t there and Munro’s direct hit from mid-on did the rest.

Smale bowled Elwiss just as she threatened to take charge, but Prendergast continued the chase, clubbing a Grewcock full toss over the ropes before majestically striking one from Smale to the almost identical spot.

Her 50 came in 63 balls and with skipper Gordon providing staunch support the target edged closer.

Prendergast launched another straight six as the bowlers wilted before Gordon hit the winning boundary.