Nat Sciver-Brunt shines as England thrash Pakistan to secure top spot

England have topped Group B after a resounding 114-run victory against Pakistan on Tuesday, reaching a mammoth 213 for five – the highest total in Women’s T20 World Cup history – before restricting Pakistan to 99 for nine.

Nat Sciver-Brunt – the tournament’s leading run-scorer – hit an unbeaten 81 from 40 balls, while Danni Wyatt (59 off 33) and Amy Jones (47 off 31) shared in the onslaught.

Assuming South Africa beat Bangladesh in the second match of Tuesday’s double-header, England will face the hosts in their semi-final on Friday. A win for Bangladesh, or a no-result, would mean England take on New Zealand. The other semi-final will be contested by Australia and India on Thursday.

After winning the toss, England started their innings with a wobble. Sophia Dunkley holed out to mid-on in the second over, while Alice Capsey was bowled missing a sweep to the left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal, leaving England 33 for two. Even so, some flashes of the bat from Wyatt ensured a strong powerplay – 55 runs coming from it.

Wyatt has suffered a frustratingly quiet tournament, with scores of 11, 16 and 0e, but came out swinging: she smacked Iqbal’s fourth ball through the covers, slogged the next over long-on for six and took a mere 29 balls to reach her half century.

She miscued leg-spinner Tuba Hassan to long-off in the 12th over, while Heather Knight was caught in the deep seven balls later. But Jones joined Nat Sciver-Brunt in a 100-run partnership brought up off 46 balls, as the pair deftly found the gaps and twice cleared the boundary rope.

It was Sciver-Brunt who coined the term “Jonball” at the start of this World Cup; on Tuesday, she epitomised the philosophy (named for the England head coach, Jon Lewis), facing three dot balls