It’s fair to say that there could have been an easier day for Taunton to host their first stand-alone Women’s Blast fixture. With their men’s team playing against Gloucestershire in the “Cider Derby” just up the road in Bristol, and that game also being shown live on Sky Sports, the task of getting cricket fans through the gates at the County Ground in one of cricket’s smallest towns (Taunton isn’t even officially a city!) must have felt like all the Labours of Hercules.

So, tossed a curveball by the fixture computer, Somerset decided the answer was to throw one back – hiring the Taylor Swift tribute act Forever Swift to do a post-match show and pricing the tickets at an “I’m Cutting My Own Hand Off ‘Ere Guv” £5 – less than a pint of beer.

And it worked! Somerset sold over 2,500 tickets, in addition to their 1,000 women’s memberships. Even the weather, which had looked decidedly dicey in the forecast, chose to be kind – it wasn’t warm, but the rain stayed away, and right on time at 6:30 Tara Norris opened the bowling to Bex Odgers, and a new era was underway at Taunton.

Norris’s first over was solid; but it was Kate Cross, opening the bowling from the same end as she did for England here less than a week ago, on her way to 3-21, who got the breakthrough, bowling Amelie Munday for a 6-ball duck.

Odgers made the early running for Somerset, playing a couple of nice strokes and easily finding the ample boundaries at Taunton; but was stumped by Ellie Threlkeld for 18 off 18, two balls after the end of the powerplay.

Odgers was replaced by veteran Fran Wilson – now coming towards the end of her career, back at the county where she began it nearly 20 years ago. Wilson opened her account with consecutive 4s off Sophie Morris; but at the other end Niamh Holland really struggled to get going, and was eventually run out for 10, ball-watching after being called through for a quick single by Wilson. At the halfway mark, Somerset were 49-3 and needing something special from the lower middle order if they were to stay in the game.

Sophie Luff hit Grace Johnson for a 10-run 12th over, but when Fran Wilson tried to take the same attitude into the following over she was comprehensively bowled coming down the pitch to Sophie Morris. Luff followed her back soon afterwards, offering a lame leading edge to Alana King off Tara Norris.

Inexplicably, Amanda-Jade Wellington was carded to come in behind both Charlie Dean and Alex Griffiths; but when she did finally reach the crease, after Dean had been caught behind trying to ramp a bouncer (yes… really!) off Kate Cross, her impact was immediate. Her presence seemed to spark Griffiths into life too, and the pair put on 45 off 26 balls for the 7th wicket as a strong Death Phase saw the hosts recover to 132-7 – Wellington checking out on 25* off 14 balls.

With Eve Jones back at the top of the order for Lancashire after a month-long injury layoff, she and Emma Lamb played positively to finish the powerplay 43 without loss. There were a couple of half-chances – a difficult caught and bowled; a run out that might have been close with a direct hit – but it wasn’t until the final delivery of the 9th over that Charlie Dean got the breakthrough – Jones LBW for 28. Lamb followed the very next ball for 32, scooping to short backward square; and suddenly Lancashire had two batters on 0 at the crease.

Fi Morris (once of this parish, in her Western Storm days) and Seren Smale made lumbered progress, and Smale (11 off 13) knew it – eventually losing patience and taking a huge swing at Amanda-Jade Wellington. It was hit into space, but went so high that Charlie Dean had plenty of time to position herself beneath it and poach the catch.

Dean then added a little revenge for her own wicket – bowling Ellie Threlkeld for 1 – and Lancashire, who had been up at 78% on the win predictor at the halfway stage, were looking at a non-trivial 28 off 24 balls. Wellington’s final over went for just 5; but Ailsa Lister, who is having the time of her life recently, thumped two 6s off Alex Griffith to help turn the equation on its head to 9 off 12.

But was there one more twist in the tail-end of this game? A brilliant double-wicket 19th over from Dean, who finished with figures of 4-9, left Griffiths to defend 8 off the last over. Singles off the first two balls kept Somerset in with a shout, but luck intervened on Lancashire’s behalf as a big, eyes-wide-shut heave from Lister took an edge past the keeper for 4. Lister then grabbed two more to get the visitors over the line with 2 balls to spare.