England lay down a marker with record win over Pakistan

The England batters warmed up for the knockout stages with a thrilling display, smashing Pakistan’s attack to all corners of Newlands as they reached 213/5 in their 20 overs.

And the reply never really got going as Pakistan ended their tournament in disappointing fashion, managing to avoid being bowled out, but finishing on 99/9.

England had rung a change to their playing XI, leaving out Lauren Bell for Freya Davies to set up a possible showdown between Davies and under-pressure Katherine Sciver-Brunt for semi-final selection.

But it was the veteran Sciver-Brunt who impressed of the two, striking with just her second ball to remove opener Sadaf Shamas for a duck, and finishing with excellent figures of 2/14 from her four overs.

England’s bowlers looked in good form, with Charlie Dean also picking up two wickets and Sophie Ecclestone conceding just 11 runs from her four overs.

Pakistan did well to avoid being bowled all out, ensuring that the innings went all the way through its 20 overs, with number nine Tuba Hassan top-scoring with 28.

But a stumping off the final ball of the inning saw Pakistan finish on 99/9, meaning a 114-run loss – the greatest margin of defeat in Women’s T20 World Cup history.

Earlier it was England who won the toss, presenting Heather Knight’s side with the opportunity to bat first and get some time out in the middle in Cape Town, with the ground set to host all of the tournament’s knockout matches.

And they got off to a flier, scoring 55 runs in the Powerplay. Pakistan did remove the dangerous pair of Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey for low scores (2 and 6 respectively). But England’s attacking intent was clear as they kept the pressure up on the Pakistan attack.

A superb partnership between Danni Wyatt and Nat Sciver-Brunt saw England pass 100 inside 11 overs, before Wyatt cracked the second fastest 50 by an England batter at Women’s T20I World Cup (29 balls) as she hit a quickfire 59 off 33 balls before being caught in the deep.

Runs continued to flow, but there was a high point for Pakistan when Nida Dar removed England captain Knight to see the bowler move clear as the top wicket-taker in the history of women’s T20Is

England may have been four down, but that didn’t slow the rate of scoring. In fact, the run rate increased in a thrilling late partnership between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones.

Nat Sciver-Brunt followed Wyatt in reaching a half-century as England raced towards the tournament’s highest total so far, with the 30-year-old finishing unbeaten on 81* from just 40 balls.