‘Happy’ Charli Knott marks dream Blaze debut with Vitality Blast opener win over Yorkshire

Her in-form fellow Aussie Jess Jonassen hit 52 from 29 balls and Sterre Kalis 47 from 40 as Yorkshire posted a challenging 180 target for The Blaze after seamer Charley Phillips had continued an impressive start to the season with three for 31.

But Knott, with support from Georgia Elwiss (20 off 17) and Sarah Bryce (28 not out off 17) after opener Marie Kelly (29 off 26) had provided early momentum, helped ensure The Blaze were always in contention, despite 17-year-old leg-spinner Holly Garton’s impressive three for 23.

Bryce’s nerve under pressure after 17 were needed from the last two overs were key, the Scotland wicketkeeper hitting three boundaries - including the winning hit - as Blaze got home with three balls to spare.

Needing nine an over, The Blaze had suffered an early setback when Garton bowled England’s Tammy Beaumont, backing away to cut. Kelly and Kathryn Bryce laid the foundations of a recovery, guiding their side to 47 for one from six, just two runs behind where their opponents had been at the same point.

But both fell in consecutive overs, Kelly (29 from 26 balls) stumped going down the track to Olivia Thomas, also a leg-spinner, before Garton skidded one through to beat Bryce’s attempted cut.

Knott and Elwiss put The Blaze firmly back on track by adding 57 in 33 balls to lift the scoring rate to where it needed to be but after a fine boundary catch by Kalis accounted for Elwiss as Garton claimed her third, the pressure built again on the home side.

But an eventful Beth Langston over, in which Knott completed a 27-ball fifty with her eighth four, immediately added another and was bowled by the next delivery, ended with 23 required off three overs after new batter Emma Jones hit the final two balls of it for four.

Earlier, Jonassen, who arrived in blistering form after three hundreds in her last four innings in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, needed no time to adjust to the shorter format, quickly finding her range.

Having hit Knott twice over mid-on for back-to-back fours, she then reverse-swept Lucy Higham two balls in a row before pinging a full toss over the rope as the off-spinner’s first over went for 21.

Her eighth four took her to 52 from just 28 balls, yet she was unable to add more, holing out to deep midwicket, where Tammy Beaumont took an excellent catch.

It gave Phillips a second wicket after she and Kirstie Gordon had combined to reduce Yorkshire, who won the toss, to 25 for two in the third over, with openers Erin Thomas and Lauren Winfield-Hill both gone.

Jonassen and Kalis added 76 in 52 balls to seize the initiative for Yorkshire, Kalis keeping up the momentum as she and Ami Campbell put on another 46 in 29. Kalis was caught at extra cover and Campbell (30 from 22) off a top-edge as Phillips picked up a third, before Maddie Ward and Langston plundered another 18 in the last two overs.

Blaze debutant Knott said: “It’s great to start the T20 with a win. There is always a little bit of extra pressure when it is your first game for a new team, so I was happy to be able to make a contribution.

“I know Jess Jonassen very well, she’s been a teammate for a long time, so it was no surprise to see her scoring some runs, especially since she’s been hitting hundreds for fun in the 50-over competition.

“But we always felt that it was a good wicket, and so we were confident we could chase down 180. The key was to not let the rate get away from us and we were able to do that, and it was a very important knock from Sarah Bryce there at the end to get us over the line.”