Women's T20 Blast: Hampshire & Surrey tie thriller

Hampshire registered a second tie in four Women's T20 Blast games as table-topping Surrey dramatically maintained their unbeaten start in the short format.

Surrey all-rounder Alice Monaghan was tasked with defending six from the final over but six singles meant the scores ended level at 121 in a low-scoring thriller.

There was almost as much excitement at Headingley as visitors Essex edged to a tense victory by three runs that kept Yorkshire bottom of the table and still winless.

Elsewhere on Friday, Meg Lanning made her second successive unbeaten fifty to guide Lancashire Thunder to their first victory in this year's Blast.

The Australian batter finished on 75 not out off 48 balls as Thunder defeated Somerset by seven wickets in a one-sided match at Emirates Old Trafford.

Durham comfortably defended 141 against struggling Warwickshire to continue their own solid start.

Surrey remain top by three points from The Blaze, who have a game in hand after three wins from their opening three matches, while Somerset are a point further back in third.

The biggest drama of the night occurred in Southampton, as Hampshire, who had already tied with Somerset this season, did so again to end Surrey's 100% start.

Surrey struggled to tame a slow pitch, with only Alice Davidson-Richards thriving with a 40, while fellow birthday girl Amanda-Jade Wellington picked up 3-25.

The visitors had looked to have locked up the match before Nancy Harman whacked 43 in 26 balls to turn the game into a last-over nail-biter.

The first five balls all saw singles – whether off the bat, leg or bye – and the last ball ended up as a run out as Rhianna Southby failed to get back for a second run.

At Headingley, Essex got off to a flyer, making 48 without loss due mainly to Grace Scrivens (53) but Yorkshire battled back well to restrict them to 146-7.

In reply, Yorkshire required 26 off three overs and then 14 off two but 3-25 from Eva Gray plus a run out and a stumping in the final over costs the hosts dearly.

Elsewhere, Warwickshire suffered a fourth successive defeat after being bowled out for 113 inside 19 overs.

Durham earlier totalled a battling 140-5 including a T20 career best 61 off 39 balls for Bess Heath.

Mady Villiers and fellow spinner Katie Levick then struck twice for polished Durham, as did the seam of Australian Heather Graham and Sophia Turner.

In Manchester, meanwhile, Somerset suffered their first Blast loss of the summer.

Having posted a modest 137-6 in their 20 overs, a total in which skipper Sophie Luff made 42, they were powerless to prevent Lancashire reaching their target.

Lanning and Eve Jones shared nine boundaries during a powerplay that yielded 62 runs as the hosts cruised to victory inside 16 overs.