England booked their place within the semi-finals of the Girls’s World Cup with an exhilarating four-run win over co-hosts India in Indore.
Set 289 to win, India had been cruising at 234-3 with opener Smriti Mandhana well-placed on 88.
However the opener’s delicate dismissal, caught down the bottom off spinner Linsey Smith within the forty second over, was the turning level because the co-hosts utterly threw away their successful place.
The run-rate climbed and though Deepti Sharma’s gritty half-century stored India hopes alive, the center order buckled underneath the stress and with 14 wanted from the final over, Smith held her nerve with India ending on 284-6.
England’s 288-8 was arrange by former captain Heather Knight’s masterful 86-ball century, after they began cautiously, reaching 44-0 off the powerplay however crucially stored wickets in hand.
Tammy Beaumont was once more scratchy for 22 from 43 balls however Amy Jones discovered worthwhile kind along with her 56, earlier than Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt set a platform with a fluent stand of 113.
Knight was the aggressor, whacking 15 fours and a six in her third one-day worldwide century, and so they put England in a superb place at 211-3 with simply over 11 overs to go earlier than Sciver-Brunt fell for 38.
England seemed to be a couple of runs quick, nevertheless, as they might not capitalise on the partnership with one other middle-order wobble, shedding three wickets for eight runs within the house of 12 balls.
Sophia Dunkley, Emma Lamb and Alice Capsey all fell cheaply to spin once more, which seemed prefer it could be expensive as soon as Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur began to cruise by way of the center overs, notching a equally flawless partnership of 125 which had a raucous crowd roaring for each run.
Mandhana’s knock was elegant and seemed sure to eclipse Knight with a match-winning century however her one lapse in focus price India, who must win their final two video games to verify a semi-final spot, having suffered three consecutive defeats.
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