The Cricketer looks at the main talking points from the Women's T20 Blast match between Surrey and The Blaze at the Kia Oval
Surrey have so far been the dominant side in the inaugural women's Blast, having destroyed Durham inside 33 overs on Sunday, while scoring in excess of 200 against Hampshire in their first home game of the competition.
So, it made a change to see them on the back foot at the Kia Oval. Marie Kelly and Georgia Elwiss shared 92 for the opening wicket inside 10 overs, and Surrey looked like they might be chasing the sort of total that they've been putting on the board.
The innings changed on two runouts, both involving Elwiss. The first saw Kelly depart, four runs short of fifty. The second saw the end of overseas allrounder Heather Graham, who seemed less than amused as she took her leave, called through for a non-existent second by the former England allrounder.
In Elwiss' defence, though, she has been in fine form this season, and this was a third half century of the Blast, match-winning in the end as Surrey found themselves 1 for 3 after two overs. Cassidy McCarthy, the Blaze seamer, was exceptional, finishing with figures of 1 for 17 in four overs.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge was superb for Surrey (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
For Surrey Women's first standalone evening match at the Kia Oval, the county specifically reached out to local women's and girls' clubs across the region, inviting them along and encouraging them to wear their club shirts.
It meant that on a pleasant – if breezy – Wednesday night, the ground featured a whole range of colours and crests. Even on the tube into Oval, there were parents with their children, in the shirts of their amateur clubs, strolling through the Hobbs Gate.
Activations like this, while hardly groundbreaking, are particularly important to Surrey, with the club hosting Finals Day of this year's Women's Blast.
Related: Dominant Surrey issue statement as team to beat in women's Blast
Georgia Elwiss' half century was crucial for The Blaze (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
You don't win many games if you lose both powerplays, and you win even fewer games if you're 1 for 3 in a run-chase. That was where all-conquering Surrey found themselves after two overs, with Bryony Smith, Kira Chathli and Paige Scholfield back in the hutch, with Kirstie Gordon's hunch to take the new ball herself paying off gloriously.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge did her level-best to keep her side in touch, belting 60 in 33 balls in a one-woman show that deserved to be on the winning side.
But she carved a cut shot straight at backward point to halt that progress, from which Surrey's flaky chances never recovered.
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