Georgia plays through pain for Blaze

ALL-ROUNDER Georgia Elwiss defied the pain from an injured hand in a match-winning unbeaten 75 as The Blaze beat Somerset Women by four wickets with an over to spare at the Haslegrave Ground in Loughborough to record a fifth victory in their Metro Bank One-Day Cup season.

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Visiting skipper Sophie Luff struck 72 from 76 balls, backed up by a half-century from opener Rebecca Odgers and a swashbuckling 25-ball 48 from Australian all-rounder Amanda-Jade Wellington as Somerset set their Trent Bridge-based opponents a tough challenge by posting 304 for seven in their 50 overs.

New Zealand batter Maddy Green hit 12 boundaries in a 90-ball 97 as The Blaze responded, sharing a 125-run second-wicket stand with Kathryn Bryce (59) but after her side had slipped to 238 for six, 33-year-old England all-rounder Elwiss brought all her experience into play as she and skipper Kirstie Gordon (25) shared an unbroken 67-run partnership to clinch victory.

Elwiss, who hit eight fours and faced 68 balls, batted despite suffering an injury fielding off her own bowling and spent the last 19 overs of the Somerset innings off the field receiving treatment.

Olivia Barnes, an 18-year-old left-arm spinner, took two for 49 on her Somerset debut.

"To chase down a total of that size is really pleasing," said Blaze captain Gordon.

"It was a really good pitch. We reckon par is about 280 and we probably gave them a few too many runs with the ball.