The Blaze became the first side to secure a top-three finish in this Women’s One-Day Cup and a guarantee of a place in the knockout stage.

The Nottingham-based side beat Warwickshire by 70 runs at Edgbaston to stretch their lead over second-placed Hampshire to five points on a day when Somerset, Surrey and holders Lancashire also triumphed.

Orla Prendergast (69), Georgia Elwiss (57) and Kathryn Bryce (45) were the mainstays as The Blaze piled up another sizable score of 282-7, England fast-bowler Issy Wong taking 5-58.

Warwickshire looked well-placed at 148-2 in the 30th over, largely thanks to skipper Katie George (89) and Brooke Halliday (52), but they slumped to 212 all out in 43.3 overs.

That was thanks to the efforts of Lucy Higham (4-41) and pace ace Charley Phillips (8-2-17-1) as The Blaze secured a 10th win in 12 games, while the fourth-placed Bears remain very much in the hunt for a top-four finish.

Kate Cross took a season’s best 4-33 to keep Lancashire in the hunt with a four-wicket win over Hampshire at Southampton.

After bowling out their hosts for 223, Emma Lamb then hit 68 out of her side’s 224-6 as Lancashire resumed where they left off before the break for The Hundred with a third-straight win.

Earlier, Abi Norgove hit an unbeaten 70 for Hampshire, while Freya Kemp warmed up for England’s three-game series against Ireland next week with an explosive 61 from 54 balls.