England's victory puts them on the brink of a semi-final spot in South Africa; Victory over Pakistan on Tuesday would guarantee top spot in Group 2; Watch every match of the T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports Cricket
Sunday 19 February 2023 07:35, UK
England maintained their 100 per cent start to the ICC Women's T20 World Cup and moved a big step closer to a semi-final spot with an impressive 11-run victory over India in South Africa.
Renuka Thakur (5-15) ripped through England's top order to leave them 29-3, having been put into bat after losing the toss, before 50 from Nat Sciver-Brunt helped lead the fightback.
Sciver-Brunt put on a 51-run stand with captain Heather Knight (28) and a quickfire 40 from Amy Jones saw England reach 151-7, while Smriti Mandhana started positively on her way to 52 from 41 balls.
Tight bowling in the middle overs pulled the match back in England's favour, as India could only muster 140-5 in reply and missed out on a chance to secure their semi-final place despite a late cameo from Richa Ghoshi (47).
Batting first after losing the toss, England lost Danni Wyatt for a golden duck when she edged Thakur's third ball of the innings and Ghoshi took a smart catch behind the stumps.
Thakur bowled Alice Capsey (3) early in her next over and removed Sophia Dunkley (10) to leave England three down inside five overs, with Knight surviving a review for LBW and a near run-out to help put the innings back on track with Sciver-Brunt
Knight gave away her wicket when she picked out Shafali Verma at cover from a Shikha Pandey full toss, while Sciver-Brunt was caught attempting a reverse sweep immediately after securing a 41-ball fifty.
Jones' 40 from 27 balls included two maximums before she was removed in the final over, the first of two wickets in successive deliveries from Thakur to secure her first five-for in T20 internationals.
India started their chase on the front foot, with the Women's IPL's most expensive player Mandhana leading from the front with four boundaries inside the same over early in their innings.
England's spinners successfully managed to keep the run rate low in the middle overs, with India going 44 runs without hitting a boundary and Sophie Ecclestone claiming the wicket of captain Harmanpreet Kaur as part of her brilliant 1-14.
Sarah Glenn (2-27) also impressed and claimed the key wicket of Mandhana, the ball after bringing up her half-century with a maximum, as India's chase stalled and the required run rate increased.
Ghosh briefly threatened to take the game down to the wire, hitting a quick 47 from 34 balls that included two sixes, with Katherine Sciver-Brunt's final over going for 19 runs not enough to stop England from securing their third win of the tournament.
England captain Knight said: "It is a real confidence booster. We haven't really played against a really big team recently and to perform like that against a really good India side is really confident.
"It feels like we are building nicely. I thought Sophie [Ecclestone] and Sarah [Glenn] were outstanding again today. We've got people in form and we read conditions really well and took pace when needed and kept the stumps in play."
India captain Kaur said: "I think we started well but in the middle overs but we didn't bowl to our plans and gave away too many runs. I think in batting we were doing well but not quite able to get where needed to be.
"When the rain came we were 10 or 12 runs behind but thought we could have recovered it. There are some areas we need to improve on, but some of the batters still did really well."
Pakistan face the West Indies on Sunday, where defeat would guarantee England's place in the semi-finals. Even if Pakistan win in Paarl, then England can secure their place in the last four by beating them in Cape Town on Tuesday.
India play Ireland - who have already been eliminated - on Monday. All three matches start at 1pm and are live on Sky Sports Cricket, with the semi-finals then taking place in Cape Town on Thursday and Friday.
