Sarah Bryce feels The Blaze’s T20 warm-up win over Northern Diamonds leaves them well-prepared for a block of shorter-form cricket, beginning with a trip to the Utilita Bowl to face Southern Vipers (2.30pm, Saturday 18 May).
Bryce is part of a 13-strong squad as The Blaze take on the defending Charlotte Edwards Cup champions.
The Scotland international smashed an unbeaten century from 39 deliveries as The Blaze amassed 199/7 from their 20 overs against Diamonds, with their opponents having only mustered 86.
“It was one of those days where I felt great out there, and I tried to make the most of it,” she said.
“It’s nice to be able to do that in a Blaze shirt, and hopefully we can take that momentum into the competition and put in a performance.
“It was an all-round good performance against Diamonds in the warm-up game, a few people put their hands up.
“Morale in the group seems really good, everyone seems in a good place and we’re really excited.
Bryce has recently returned from helping her country reach the Women’s World T20 finals for the first time.
But the historic achievement didn’t dim her enthusiasm for returning to the Blaze fold.
“It’s really exciting to be going to the World Cup,” she said.
“We obviously went into the qualifiers hoping we’d be able to get over the line, but we’ve had quite a lot of heartaches in the past, so to finally get there is a really special feeling.
“When we found out the qualifiers were was going to clash with The Blaze games, it wasn’t ideal, as I love playing for The Blaze.
“But I’m super excited to be back for the T20s, and hopefully we can have a successful tournament.”
Indeed, such is Bryce’s commitment to her domestic side that she raced from the airport to support her teammates in person as they secured a dramatic victory over Western Storm at Trent Bridge.
“I left the airport, had a quick shower then headed straight to the ground to watch the end of the game,” she recalled.
“That was an unbelievable partnership between Ella (Claridge, who made a half-century) and Nads (de Klerk, who reached three figures) – they smashed it, and it was great to see how happy everyone was afterwards.
“It’s great to have this as one big block of T20 now, and see the competition through.
“We didn’t necessarily have the start we’d have wanted in the 50-over competition, but we got a bit of momentum with a couple of wins at the back end of the block, and we can take that confidence into the T20s.
“We’ll be taking it game-by-game, but those two finals last year gave us a taste of what it’s like, so we’d love to go one step further.”
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The Blaze at Trent Bridge
The Blaze will appear at Trent Bridge on two further occasions this May - including a T20 double-header alongside Notts Outlaws.
Find out more here...