Surrey win inaugural Women’s T20 Blast with five-wicket win over Bears thanks to Grace Harris 63*

Surrey became the inaugural winners of the women’s T20 Blast, defeating the Birmingham Bears by five wickets with Grace Harris smashing an imperious half-century to crown her side champions.

Phoebe Franklin was the pick of the bowlers for Surrey, taking 2-16 from her four overs as the Bears were reduced to 153-9.

Harris’ destructive half-century took the game away from the visitors, with handy contributions from Bryony Smith and Sophia Dunkley.

Earlier in the day, the Bears claimed an emphatic victory over The Blaze, led by an inspired Issy Wong performance. She smashed 59 from 38 with the bat, before picking up a phenomenal 4-14. This included Tammy Beaumont and both Bryce sisters.

After Surrey elected to bowl first, Wong was called into action early when Alexa Stonehouse castled Meg Austin second ball with a devastating in-swinger.

Davina Perrin didn’t last much longer, falling for a three-ball duck, but only after Wong found the boundary with a bout of aggressive strokes. She moved into the twenties at the end of the third over with a glorious drive over the off-side.

It took a perfect delivery from Stonehouse to dismiss Wong, nipping one away to clip the top of leg-stump. A brilliant wicket ended a brilliant innings.

Sterre Kalis and Nat Wraith strung a solid partnership together post-powerplay, but the Dutch international was run out for 10, pushing for a second that was never on.

Wickets continued to tumble at The Oval, with Kira Chathli taking a remarkable stumping off the bowling of Franklin to dismiss Amu Surenkumar for 11, before Wraith tamely chipped to cover for 23.

Birmingham’s hopes rested on the shoulders of Laura Harris, who moved into the twenties with ease, launching a volley of sixes and fours around the Kia Oval.

Harris launched a flurry of boundaries around the Kia Oval, looking to progress the game, but to Birmingham’s dismay, Harris and Em Arlott fell in consecutive overs. Franklin skipped one between bat and pad to bowl Arlott before the Australian star sent another shot high into the sky, this time into the hands of Franklin at deep midwicket to give Dani Gregory her first.

It went from bad to worse for Birmingham as their captain was run out coming back for a second, and they found themselves nine down with 135 on the scoreboard.

A few singles and a glorious cover drive by Hannah Baker pushed the visitors up to 153-9 at the end of their 20 overs, a more than defendable total. But a score that felt under-par as well.

A steady first over saw Wong concede just two runs, before Arlott got an early breakthrough for Birmingham. Danni Wyatt-Hodge clipped one out to deep square leg, and Hannah Baker took a good running catch to dismiss the England batter.

Smith led the charge for Surrey, carting Wong, Arlott and Georgia Davis for a barrage of boundaries, but she fell on the final ball of the powerplay for 21. Baker struck soon after, getting Capsey stumped with her second ball, beating the batter with flight. Surrey found themselves 42-3 in the seventh over.

Sophia Dunkley and Grace Harris counter-attacked with some imperious striking, including the first six of the innings, when Dunkley launched Baker straight down the ground.

It was a day for the keepers with Wraith picking up another stumping, this time off Surenkumar. Dunkley dragged her back foot outside the crease, and lightning-quick hands from Wraith sent her packing.

Harris picked up from where her teammate left off and raced to her half-century as Surrey drew closer to the required total. It took her just 25 balls to get to fifty, and her innings included six fours and one huge six.

Scholfield picked out Perrin in the deep from an Arlott long-hop, which looked like it could be a twist in the tale, but Harris continued to marshal the chase with measured authority.

With four needed to win, Kira Chathli flicked a full toss to the square leg boundary to seal victory for Surrey and make them the first-ever winners of the T20 Blast.