DANNI Wyatt-Hodge continued her love-affair with Utilita Bowl as her 65 helped table-toppers Surrey vanquish Hampshire Hawks in a last-ball Women's Vitality Blast thriller.

Until her move to Surrey this winter, England star Wyatt-Hodge had made Utilita Bowl her home since 2017, with both Southern Vipers in the Kia Super League and regional setup, and Southern Brave in The Hundred.

She led a chase of 156 – after Charli Knott had carefully amassed her T20 best of 74 to get Hawks to bang-on par 155 for four.

Surrey eventually required 11 off the last over, which Paige Schofield and Alice Davidson-Richards managed with two off the final delivery.

Hampshire Hawks all-rounder Charli Knott said: “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the line.

"It felt like we had a bit of momentum there, but we couldn’t get it done. It can go either way in T20 cricket, and unfortunately, it went the way of the other team.

"It would have been a great effort from Gads to defend 11 in the last over; she bowled very well throughout the game.

“I didn’t feel like I was in my rhythm throughout my innings. The pitch was a little slower than anticipated, so we had to battle to get to that total.

“I would have liked to have got going and more freely a lot earlier, but I’m glad I stuck around and helped the team get to a total.”

Knott and Maia Bouchier struggled to pierce holes in the ring after Surrey lost the toss. 

Only 32 runs came in the powerplay, with Knott particularly bogged down, as the fielding was backed by consistently tight bowling.

Bouchier’s demise, in the ninth over, began the start of more steady runs off Knott’s bat, helped by Freya Kemp pushing twos in her short stay.

Knott had found her groove. The Australian had scored her T20 best in the victory over Essex last Thursday, but she went past the 72 she scored in Chelmsford.

She ended up with a 61-ball 74, and Surrey’s chase of 156 started with a stutter as Bryony Smith fell.

But Wyatt-Hodge got the chase in order. Her eighth T20 half-century on the ground came in 30 balls, and Surrey found the 11 runs needed from the last over.