Nervous triumph puts England on course for last four

Heather Knight took 3-15 with her off-spin to restrict India to 90-8, a score which seemed sub-standard even on a slow, low pitch offering some turn.

England looked home and dry when they raced to 42-1 in reply, but a middle-order collapse almost derailed their chase.

Seven wickets fell for just 45 runs, and No 10 Anya Shrubsole was dropped at cover the ball before slashing the winning boundary through backward point.

Ekta Bisht took 4-21 and fellow spinner Harmanpreet Kaur 2-22 as England struggled to deal with the turning ball, and some ill-judged running aided India’s cause further.

Captain Charlotte Edwards fell cheaply in pursuit of the low total but Tammy Beaumont and Sarah Taylor wasted little time adding 32 from 21 balls for the second wicket.

That should have put the result beyond doubt, but both fell to successive deliveries from Kaur, with Beaumont miscuing a simple catch to square-leg on 20 after hitting three consecutive boundaries and Taylor advancing down the pitch only to be stumped by Sushma Verma for 16.

That sparked a serious slump but Shrubsole survived Kaur fumbling a routine chance in the penultimate over before picking up the match-winning four.

Earlier England’s bowlers had impressed, but some sloppy fielding allowed India to post a score which eventually proved testing.

England spinner Danielle Hazell has been ruled out of the remainder of the event, with Laura Marsh replacing her.

Hazell strained her calf during a training session in Dharamsala and will return home for rehabilitation.

Marsh, the 29-year-old Kent all-rounder, will link up with the squad in Chennai ahead of the final group game against Pakistan on March 27.

Head coach Mark Robinson said: “Danielle was an important component of the bowling attack, especially given her excellent current form and the conditions here in India, but we are fortunate to have such a talented and experienced replacement in Laura. We are looking forward to welcoming Laura into the squad later in the week.”

n New Zealand became the first team to book their place in the ICC World Twenty20 semi-finals after Martin Guptill’s big-hitting and more fine spin bowling proved key against Pakistan.

Guptill’s 80 from 48 balls underpinned a total of 180-5 in Mohali, and then Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi recorded combined figures of 8-0-54-3 as Pakistan’s chase ran out of puff to leave them 22 runs short of their target.

New Zealand, captained by Yorkshire’s Kane Williamson, therefore have a perfect Group 2 record of three wins from three matches and are through to the knockout stage, irrespective of remaining Super 10 results.