Davina Perrin stars as Bears book spot at Finals Day

Davina Perrin once again demonstrated her exciting talent with 70 as Bears downed Hampshire Hawks and booked their place at the Vitality Blast Women's Finals Day.

Teenager Perrin held Bears' innings together after they had been 41 for 4 in the powerplay to prove why she is the second top-scorer in the Women's Blast. Perrin's 70 off 48 balls took her side to 165, which Ellyse Perry threatened to hunted down with an exceptional 58.

But the Hawks couldn't keep up with the rate and only managed 149 in their 20 overs to lose by 16 runs to send Bears to the showpiece event at the Kia Oval next Sunday.

Despite their premature exit from the competition, Hampshire have been drawing strong crowds for their double-headers. Each of the four matches have seen at least 3000 fans watch the women's fixture - with 3251 spectators arriving for this clash.

Their reward was seeing future superstar Perrin in full flow. She was the mainstay through the Bears' innings, with her persistence allowing an average score to become a defendable total at the death, having chosen to bat first.

While Perrin was tight and in control from the start, her top-order colleagues were not. Meg Austin was excellently caught and bowled by Daisy Gibb - who was a force with the new ball - before Amu Surenkumar tried to tip-and-run to Georgia Adams at cover, who ran her out with a direct hit.

"Caught Ellyse Perry, bowled Bex Tyson" was copy and pasted for Sterre Kalis and Katie George, with Bears 41 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.

Australian import Laura Harris did Laura Harris things in a boundary-frenzied 32 off 15 before Perry fired an unplayable yorker to dislodge her compatriot, while Nat Wraith's leading edge saw her caught and bowled by Tyson first ball.

Bears were facing a sub 100 sore when Millie Taylor missed a sweep and was bowled, but the tail growled, and Perrin got the rewards for her graft in the sun.

Perrin, just 18, has been the Bears' standout player in the Blast, and now stands behind just Suzie Bates in the leading run-scorer list. She hit powerfully down the ground, brought out the sweep when appropriate and ran hard to reach a gallant half-century in 34 balls.

Perrin bunted a full toss to mid-off to depart in the penultimate over, but Bears walloped 44 runs in the last four overs to spin the momentum - Georgia Davis and Hannah Baker adding 15 and 12 not out respectively, crucial runs to the late surge.

In reply, Perry was exceptional, peppering the boundary from ball one - although admittedly that was with an uncontrolled edge.

Perry had shown glimpses of her superstardom with a 40 against Somerset but this was vintage stuff, with her trademark two-step and swing down the ground seen almost on repeat. Rhianna Southby simply ticked the strike back to Perry in a 75-run partnership before she was excellently caught by Perrin at long-off, with Freya Kemp bowled soon after.

Baker caught and bowled Abi Norgrove as the Hawks fell from 75 without loss to 86 for 3 and from there they lost control of the chase.

Perry reached a 36 ball fifty but plinked to mid-on with five overs to go, with 63 still needed. Megan Sturge and Mary Taylor also fell at the death as Bears strolled through.