England produced a superb bowling performance to successfully defend 151/7 and beat India at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.

Smriti Mandhana scored a sublime half-century to put India in a decent position in their attempted chase of 152. But the rate of scoring slowed through the middle overs as England’s spinners took control of the game, with Sophie Ecclestone the stand-out bowler once again, picking up 1/14 from her four overs and strangling India’s batters at a crucial point of the match.

Mandhana’s 52 from 41 was the top score in the reply, with Richa Ghosh finishing unbeaten on 47* from 34. But only one other Indian batter reached double figures as they fell 11 runs short of the target.

Smriti Mandhana scored a sublime half-century to put India in a decent position in their attempted chase of 152 But the rate of scoring slowed through the middle overs as England’s spinners took control of the game, with Sophie Ecclestone the stand-out bowler once again, picking up 1/14 from her four overs and strangling India’s batters at a crucial point of the match.

Mandhana’s 52 from 41 was the top score in the reply, with Richa Ghosh finishing unbeaten on 47* from 34. But only one other Indian batter reached double figures as they fell 11 runs short of the target.

How has this changed the qualification permutations?

England are not mathematically through to the semi-finals with one game to come, but it would require the unlikeliest of scenarios to deny them a spot from here. Pakistan would need to win both of their remaining matches, including beating England by a huge margin, if there is to be any chance of England missing out.

For India the situation is that they now will likely have to beat Ireland in their final match to progress. A defeat for India against Ireland would leave them vulnerable given their relatively low net run rate. Should India win and Pakistan manage to beat both West Indies and England then it would come down to net run rate to decide who qualifies for the semis.