Women's T20 World Cup: England beat India by 11 runs to stay top of Group 2

England kept their place at the top of Group 2 with a vital 11-run win over India at the Women's T20 World Cup.

After slipping to 29-3 and 80-4 in Gqeberha, Nat Sciver-Brunt's half-century led England's recovery as they posted 151-7 despite seamer Renuka Thakur's magnificent 5-15.

In reply, opener Smriti Mandhana looked to be steering India to victory before she was crucially dismissed by Sarah Glenn for 52 with 47 runs still needed.

Richa Ghosh led a fightback with an unbeaten 47, but with 31 needed from the final over, India finished on 140-5.

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England have Pakistan left to play in the group stage, and should avoid reigning champions Australia in the semi-finals.

Australia look set to finish top of Group 1, which means England are likely to face either South Africa or Sri Lanka in the semis.

India should qualify from second in Group 2, with Ireland to play in their final game.

This was the first time England had really been tested during the competition so far, after comfortable wins against West Indies and Ireland in their opening fixtures, and they were immediately reeling from Thakur's opening three-wicket burst.

But Nat Sciver-Brunt's counter-attack, alongside Amy Jones' 40 from 27 balls, propelled them to a defendable total before India's middle-order batters succumbed to the increasing run-rate throughout their chase.

England will face Pakistan on Tuesday at 13:00 GMT in Cape Town, after India take on Ireland in Gqeberha the previous day at 13:00 GMT.

England's aggression counters Thakur brilliance

The pre-tournament talk surrounding England's chances in the World Cup centred around a new, aggressive batting approach from head coach Jon Lewis, and it was tested by an exhibition of swing bowling by Thakur.

Under cloudy skies, the seamer found extravagant swing and immediately had England on the back foot when Danni Wyatt was brilliantly caught one-handed by wicketkeeper Ghosh in the first over.

Alice Capsey and Sophia Dunkley then found their stumps dismantled, and while previous England teams would have consolidated and rebuilt slowly, Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt kept attacking.

The battle was gripping. Every wicket India took, England threw a punch back, with the pair reverse-sweeping, ramping over the keeper and hitting firmly down the ground.

When Knight fell tamely by hitting a Shikha Pandey full-toss straight to mid-off, Jones picked it up immediately, smashing two sixes over Gqeberha's huge square boundaries.

It was a clear, bold statement from Knight's England, that even when up against it, they are committed to being fearless - and it provided thrilling entertainment.

Bowling concerns remain for England

Despite the batting bravery, England's seamers are still struggling to fire in the tournament.

But they are blessed with three outstanding spinners, who were again called in to the attack early to recover from an expensive start.

Sophie Ecclestone was metronomic with her final figures of 1-14, while Glenn continued her fine form with 2-27, taking the key scalps of Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues.

But Katherine Sciver-Brunt conceded 39 from her four overs, and her second over gifted Mandhana a fast start with three consecutive boundaries.

And trusted with the final over, albeit defending an ambitious 31 from India's point of view, she conceded 19, including a six and a waist-high no-ball.

With seamers Freya Davies and Kate Cross waiting on the sidelines, England have the option to change their side, but arguably with the form of their spinners, may not want to change a winning formation.

India will rue losing those middle-order wickets, and had Mandhana stayed in with the exciting young talent of Ghosh, the result could have been significantly different.

'We had to soak it up' - what they said

England captain Heather Knight: "We talk a lot about trying to fit our mindset to the conditions and my partnership with Nat [Sciver-Brunt] did that. It was a really key partnership and it is really nice to have that depth in our batting line-up. I thought Amy [Jones] in particular was outstanding.

"They bowled really well. Thakur was outstanding, nipping the ball both ways. It was a really good toss to win. Nat manipulated the field really well. It was a really complete batting performance."

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur: "We started well but in the middle overs we didn't bowl to our plans and gave away too many runs. We were doing well with the bat but were not quite able to get where needed to be.

"There are some areas we need to improve on, but some of the batters still did really well."

Player of the match, England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt: "It was tough. They were getting it to seam a lot. Thakur bowled brilliantly to get the stumps in play all the time. We had to soak it up but put our front foot forward too."