Sturge stars as Glamorgan overcome Northants
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Vitality Blast - League Two, Northampton
Glamorgan 174-3 (20): L Parfitt 50, Sturge 42*
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Northants 141-7 (20): Kemp 41, Reid 30; Porter 4-21, Sturge 2-23
Glamorgan won by 33 runs
Megan Sturge hit a rapid 42 not out and took the first two wickets as unbeaten Glamorgan defeated Northants by 33 runs.
Sturge helped hoist Glamorgan to 174-3 after consistent captain Lauren Parfitt struck 50 off 38 balls, her fifth half-century in 10 innings in 2026.
Hampshire loanee Sturge, usually a wicket-keeper, then dismissed Northants openers Amelia Kemp (41) and Mabel Reid (30), with Gemma Porter (4-21) limiting them to 141-7 in their 20 overs.
Glamorgan have four T20 Blast wins, and 10 across all three competitions, as they target a place on the second tier Finals Day at their Sophia Gardens headquarters on Sunday 12 July.
Glamorgan, who turn professional next season, gave a debut to on-loan Durham batter Leah Dobson while Northants had Essex academy seamer Clara Thaker, 17, making her first appearance.
Reliable openers Daisy Jeanes and Parfitt posted 48 in the power-play, and had 71 on the board when Jeanes (29) drove Thaker's third ball to mid-on, after being dropped twice earlier.
Glamorgan were well-set at 88-1 at half-way, and Parfitt hit eight boundaries before holing out to long-on off Italian international Lenny Sims, the seventh bowler used.
Dobson fell to Anisha Patel for 15 to check the visitors' momentum with the flow of boundaries largely slowing down until the closing overs.
Sturge and Bethan Gammon (29 not out) found some crucial late acceleration and ran hard in another stand of 71.
Mabel Reid and Amelia Kemp made a solid start for the Steelbacks, finding the gaps early on to add 68 before Sturge, who had been behind the wickets in five previous appearances, had Reid stumped for 29 by her stand-in Gammon.
A score of 73-1 after 10 overs left Northants needing double figures per over in the second half of their innings.
A faster ball from Sturge then deceived Kemp as she tried to charge and missed, while medium-pacer Eve Jackson bowled an economical spell conceding just 25.
Home skipper Gemma Marriott (23) and Beth Ascott sliced successive balls from Porter to point as they looked to start a late charge.
Alicia Presland (21) was one of two lbw victims for Porter as she ended the match as a contest.