Charlie Dean starred with the ball with figures of 4-23 as England bowled India out for 135 in the 37th over; Nat Sciver (45) and Heather Knight (53) led the way with the bat to boost the 2017 champions' slim semi-finals hopes.
Wednesday 16 March 2022 12:26, UK
England boosted their World Cup hopes as they beat India by four wickets to clinch their first win of the tournament behind a captain's performance from half-centurion Heather Knight and Charlie Dean's earlier excellence with the ball.
Having won the toss, England challenged their opponents to set the tone before dismissing them for just 135 following figures of 4-23 from off-spinner Dean.
Nat Sciver subsequently led the charge with the bat with a knock of 45 and Skipper knight saw out the chase with an unbeaten 53 from 72 deliveries.
England had entered the contest on the back of three successive defeats, knowing their required wins in each of their final four matches to progress to the semi-finals.
The 2017 champions are now due to face New Zealand Women on Saturday followed by Pakistan and Bangladesh the following week.
Smriti Mandhana found herself short of partners at the top of the order for India and saw fellow opener Yastika Bhatia fall to Anya Shrubsole for her 100th ODI wicket.
India found themselves 61-5 before Mandhana herself fell for 35 when she was trapped lbw off the fowling off Sophie Ecclestone.
Richa Gosh attempted to dress up her side's total some more with 33 from 56 until she was run out by Sciver, and it was Dean, playing in just her second World Cup game, that brought the innings to a close by bowling Meghna Singh.
England's chase was dealt an immediate blow when openers Tammy Beaumont and Danni Wyatt both went for just one run apiece.
Their departure paved the way for a defining partnership from Sciver (45) and Knight (53 not out), which had looked in shape to see the win out for England.
As much seemed evident as the duo exchanged fours in the 17th, only for Sciver to mis-time a short-ball with a looping shot into the hands of Jhulan Goswami at mid-wicket.
Amy Jones fired 10 from 28 before being dismissed courtesy of a superb back-peddling catch from Harmanpreet Kaur at mid-on having beaten her with a six two balls earlier, and Sophia Dunkley raced to 17 from 21 until edging behind to Richa Gosh.
Katherine Brunt followed suit for a duck two balls later, but England were not to be denied as Sophie Ecclestone pulled away a four to seal the win.
England captain Heather Knight: "Bit of a relief to be honest, I think we just needed that. Probably a bit scrappy in the end, lost a few more wickets than we'd have liked but to get over the line is really nice for us and hopefully the start of a momentum shift and turning it around a little bit.
"We've got a long way to go, starting with that next game in Auckland and that's what we're focused on."
"We're obviously really disappointed with how our fielding has been going, the last couple of games we've been desperate to turn it around, so I thought the mentality of the girls to do that was great, I think sometimes it's easy to go into your shell and when you're under pressure and things aren't going well."
Anya Shrubsole on reaching 100 ODI wickets: "I'm obviously really pleased, I think I never would have really dreamed of hitting that when I made my debut, so I'm obviously pleased. But I'm most pleased about being able to contribute to the team and I thought as a group we bowled really well. Obviously the way Charlie Dean bowled was amazing."
Watch England Women look to give their World Cup semi-final hopes another boost when they face New Zealand Women live on Sky Sports this Saturday.
