The Blaze Crush Surrey by 65 Runs to Lift the T20 Women's County Cup
The Blaze hammered Surrey by 65 runs to win the 2026 Vitality T20 Women's County Cup final at the Nottinghamshire Sports Ground on 23 August. The margin was the widest of the entire Finals Day — and it was built on a bowling performance from Kathryn Bryce that dismantled Surrey's chase before it ever truly began.
Surrey batted first in the final and posted 91-8, a total that always looked thin on a surface offering help to the seamers. Kira Chathli top-scored with 25 from 23 balls, but wickets fell steadily around her. Kathryn Bryce did the bulk of the damage, returning figures of 4-18 — the kind of spell that turns a modest target into a mountain. Her younger sister Sarah, keeping wicket, chipped in with a catch and a run-out to squeeze Surrey further BBC Sport.
Chasing 92 to win, The Blaze lost both Emma Jones and Tammy Beaumont to Alice Monaghan, each caught in the deep. Jones had made a brisk 22 from 14 balls. But Georgia Elwiss walked in and joined Kathryn Bryce in a decisive third-wicket stand of 40 across four overs — a partnership that took the game away from Surrey with clinical efficiency. The target was overhauled with plenty to spare.
The path to the final had been anything but straightforward. In the first semi-final, The Blaze chased down Essex's 44-3 in just 21 of their allotted 30 balls — less than four overs of the five-over innings. Emma Jones set the tone there with an unbeaten 26 from 14. The second semi-final was considerably tighter. Surrey scraped past Somerset by two runs, defending 62-2 — Bryony Smith's 25 the anchor. Bex Odgers had nearly pulled off the impossible for Somerset, cracking 29 from 12 balls before holing out to deep midwicket. Somerset finished on 60-6, needing a four off the last ball to go through BBC Sport.
Both finalists had entered the competition at the semi-final stage, part of the competition's structure that saw seeded sides join later ECB. The two had recent history, too. Surrey had beaten The Blaze by 34 runs in the Women's T20 Blast earlier in August, a match in which Kathryn Bryce conceded 27 from her four overs. On Finals Day, she turned that around emphatically — same format, same opposition, radically different outcome Willow TV.
For The Blaze, the Bryce sisters were the story of the day. Kathryn's fifties had already fired them to a semi-final win in the Women's T20 Blast ESPN, and her all-round brilliance on county cup Finals Day — runs, four wickets, and a trophy — cemented her as the player of the occasion. Sarah's glovework, sharp and decisive, was the perfect complement.
What makes this stand out is the scale of the turnaround. Surrey arrived at Finals Day having beaten The Blaze at Trent Bridge only weeks earlier, with Kalea Moore producing a career-best performance in that match Kia Oval. In the final, there was no repeat. The Blaze out-batted, out-bowled and out-fielded Surrey from the toss, and the 65-run margin told the story plainly.
