the glow 120 for 7 (Beaumont 38, Ecclestone 2-18) beat Thunder 117 for 6 (Heap 26, Ballinger 2-23) by three wickets
Beaumont was one of six Ashes contenders to take part in a low-ranking event played after the Lancashire men defeated Leicestershire in the Vitality Blast, with star duo Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone going head-to-head.
Both impressed as the Thunder went 117 for 6 and couldn’t defend it. Ecclestone returned 2 for 18 from four left-arm spinning overs, while Sciver-Brunt’s closers struck 1 for 23 for four before adding 21 for 14 balls in the chase.
But Beaumont usurped them both, hitting the ball better than anyone with eight fours and six to ensure the Blaze continued his unbeaten start to the summer.
The Blaze survived a late wobble from 88 for 2 to 98 for 6 to win in 16 overs and have now won five of seven Charlotte Edwards Cup matches and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in their first season at Trent Bridge, including two of two in this T20 competition.
The East Midlands side have been renamed the Lightning after three seasons at Loughborough University.
For the Thunder, their disappointing start to 2023 continues. They are winless in seven games across the two competitions, including a pair of T20 losses.
Beaumont, Ecclestone, Kate Cross, Sarah Glenn, Emma Lamb and Sciver-Brunt were the England players present.
Thunder failed to gain any significant momentum via a choked tackle from a bowling attack at point five. Left-arm seamstress Grace Ballinger took the new ball and excelled with 2 for 23 from her four overs, while Sciver-Brunt, captain and spinner Kirstie Gordon, leg-spinner Glenn and South African seamer Nadine de Klerk all scored a time.
Starter Libby Heap top-scored with 26 for the Thunder, while captain Ellie Threlkeld and Cross had 22.
Lancashire had promoted the day as Empower Play, donating £1 from each of the 3,101 tickets sold throughout the day to women’s and girls’ engagement initiatives in conjunction with the Lancashire Cricket Foundation.
The Thunder were in trouble early on when England opener Lamb cut Gordon’s left arm spin in half to go down for 2 four balls in the match before Ballinger bowled West Indian Deandra Dottin for 9 and the score fell to 14 for 2 in the match. room above.
Heap, Threlkeld, Fi Morris at 18 and Cross were all busy trying to further the Thunder’s cause, but fell from 82-for-3 at 15 to 89-for-6 at 18 to undermine hopes of a challenging total.
Morris was tackled by Glenn, Heap was well caught on short third by former Thunder hitter Georgie Boyce of Sciver-Brunt and Ecclestone was caught on fine leg short for only three by Ballinger.
On the opening lap of the chase, Beaumont made his intentions clear by sweeping and elevating fellow international Ecclestone into back-to-back limits. His six-over midwicket shot came off Tara Norris’s seam, while he hit three bounds in the same area in dominating a starting position of 56 runs with Marie Kelly.
The latter was brought down sweeping at Ecclestone for 16 in the sixth over before Beaumont swept lbw on Morris’s offspin an over later, leaving the Blaze 56 for 2.
Sciver-Brunt, at no. 3, then hit and carved three fours on as many balls against UAE international fast bowler Mahika Gaur to maintain Blaze’s dominance.
Cross caught Boyce (15) on point as the score fell to 88 for 3 in the tenth, causing a mini collapse to 98 for 6 after 12 that only delayed the inevitable. Sciver-Brunt mistook Norris for short midwicket before Ecclestone brought de Klerk down as part of it. Later, Glenn hit the winning runs and finished 17 not out.