The Blaze skipper Kirstie Gordon said that the message to her squad remains unchanged, as a place in the semi-finals of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy is within grasp ahead of their final group stage game against Central Sparks.

Gordon and Head Coach Chris Guest name a 13-player squad to host Sparks at Queen’s Park, Chesterfield, with Orla Prendergast absent as she features for Ireland in their white-ball series against England.

Leapfrogging Sunrisers into fourth place - the last of the qualification spots - with a win over Thunder on Wednesday, has meant that The Blaze are in the driving seat for a knockout place for the first time in this year’s competition.

Gordon has led her side to three 50-over wins on the spin, picking up a remarkable five wins from seven outings on either side of The Hundred, and has been thoroughly impressed by the fighting response to early setbacks.

“It’s been brilliant. We’ve had our backs against the wall after not our best start back in April,” Gordon said, “It’s brilliant seeing the girls show so much resilience and effort to try and turn our fortunes around, especially now that on Friday it’s in our hands.

“It’s a nice place to be in knowing that it’s up to us now if we want to make that semi-final.”

Their latest triumph, however, was not without its moments of jeopardy. Despite putting Thunder to the sword in the early stages, as the hosts crumbled to 81/7 in response to 197, their opponents from the North-West rallied and came within 25 runs of victory before Kathryn Bryce could deal the killer blow.

“It’s always good to win tight games, it stands you in really good stead for when you’re playing in high-pressure situations," reflectyed Gordon.

“The funny thing is I really don’t think we’ve played some of our best cricket on Wednesday, but when you’re still winning that’s a really big positive, because when it all does come together then hopefully things will go your way.

“There have been some really great individual moments this season, lots of people in this squad have stood up at different times to help get us over the line. On Wednesday it was great to see Michaela Kirk open the batting for the first time for us, and Grace taking those wickets with the new ball. Hopefully we can put in a complete performance on Friday to see us over the line.”

But having chased the leading pack right until the 50-over campaign’s closing stages, The Blaze now find themselves in a situation where defending their league position is the objective.

Gordon, however, dismissed any mention of a switch of mentality; consistency in team messaging is what has earned the skipper so much success since taking charge.

“Like we always say, we will only focus on what we’re able to do and how we bring out the best of ourselves,” Gordon asserted, “We’ve been chasing the pack and now we’re being chased on the final day.

“But the message doesn’t change, it’s about doing what we can do and playing what’s in front of us. The message doesn’t change and won’t change for tomorrow.”