Charli Knott starred with bat and ball as The Blaze cruised past Essex at Chelmsford with 4.1 overs unused in the Vitality Blast.

The Australian all-rounder took 2-24, teaming up with fellow spin duo Lucy Higham (3-24) and Maria Andrews (1-20) to restrict the home side to 136 for nine.

Knott then contributed an unbeaten 54 from 35, sharing an unbroken partnership of 95 from 64 with captain Marie Kelly, who posted 55* from 44 – her first half-century of the tournament.

The visiting spinners established control early on and captured three wickets inside the first four overs, including those of the experienced pair Lissy Macleod and Jo Gardner.

Heap and Anneke Bosch (21 from 16) led a mini-recovery until the South African was trapped in front by a slower delivery from Georgia Elwiss (2-30).

Heap continued to build momentum, but Higham tempted the batter with a flighted delivery when she was just one stroke away from fifty and she holed out to long-on.

She was soon to be followed by debutant Amelie Bishop and Ariana Dowse as the Blaze applied pressure on the hosts at the back end of the innings.

Two wickets from successive deliveries stifled Essex during the final over, including Knott’s smart fielding to run out Sophie Munro at the non-striker’s end and left The Blaze to chase a modest 137.

The openers got off to a good start, with Tammy Beaumont (21 from 17) thumping back-to-back fours off Eva Gray in the powerplay.

Kelly also gathered pace following a slow start and the pair had trimmed off almost a third of the target by the time Esmae MacGregor came on to pierce Beaumont’s defences with a swinging yorker.

Knott maintained The Blaze’s impetus, crashing Gray and Kate Coppack to the off-side rope and then slamming MacGregor for successive fours before hoisting Bosch over midwicket for a maximum.

The skipper was first to pass 50 from 42 balls, drilling Bosch to the cover fence, with her partner faster to the landmark by eight deliveries before punching Munro for another boundary to seal victory.

That is now three Blast wins on the bounce for the Blaze as they move to second in the table with the bonus-point win. They're two points behind Hampshire, but with a game in hand over the Hawks.