Surrey clinch inaugural Vitality Blast Women's T20
Surrey Women were crowned champions of the first-ever Vitality Blast women’s competition on Sunday 27th July, after a convincing five-wicket win over the Bears Women at the Kia Oval.
The 2025 season is the first time all women’s and men’s county teams played side-by-side in the Vitality Blast, the original domestic T20 cricket competition . The women’s teams played in two Vitality Blast competitions – one contested by the eight counties from Tier One (playing alongside the men in the Vitality Blast) and the second featuring the 10 remaining counties (Vitality Blast Women’s League 2).
The new professional structure will see £8m of new funding per year being invested into women’s domestic cricket by 2027 – taking annual investment in this area to £19m – and could produce an 80% increase in the number of professional female players in England and Wales by 2029. ECB
In Sunday's final, Grace Harris led the way for the hosts with a match-winning 63 from just 33 balls, guiding Surrey to victory with 20 balls to spare.
Having defeated The Blaze in the Eliminator earlier in the day, Bears were sent into bat first. Surrey struck early, with Alexa Stonehouse (2–39) removing Meg Austin for 4 in the second ball of the match. Davina Perrin followed soon after, dismissed for a three-ball duck by Alice Capsey (1–33).
Issy Wong was the Bears' top-scored with 31, but after becoming Stonehouse’s second wicket, the visitor's innings faltered. Four wickets fell in five overs, reducing them to 115 for 8 by the 15th over. Phoebe Franklin (2–16) helped close out the innings as Surrey’s bowlers restricted the Bears to 153.
In reply, Surrey captain Bryony Smith made 21, while Danni Wyatt-Hodge fell for 5, caught off Em Arlott (2–19). Capsey added a swift 15, and Sophia Dunkley chipped in with 23 before being stumped by Nat Wraith off Amu Surenkumar (2–13). However, it was Harris who took control of the chase, her powerful knock including seven 4s and two 6s sealed the win and the trophy for Surrey.
Header image courtesy of ECB/Getty
