Cricket World Cup: England crush Pakistan in Christchurch

Impressive England swept aside Pakistan to move closer to a place in the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup.

After dismissing Pakistan for 105, the defending champion raced to the target in 20 overs.

Brunt, who has struggled for form in this tournament, took the first-ball dismissal of the match to make it 3-17.

The left-arm spinner became the leading bowler in the competition with three.

Danni Wyatt and Heather Knight added a stand of 87 to help the team to a nine-wicket win.

If England beat Bangladesh in Wellington on Sunday, they will reach the semi-finals for the first time.

South Africa was reduced to 61-4 by the West Indies before the game was abandoned.

South Africa is in the last four and the Windies will have to wait for the game against India on Monday.

A South Africa win would open the door for the West Indies.

England finally peaking?

England had their most complete performance of the World Cup against a side who had never come close to troubling them before.

After three opening defeats, Knight's team could have been eliminated, but this was a sign of improvement as the tournament progresses.

Their bowlers exploited the helpful conditions, the fielding efficient enough to effect two run-outs and the chase was ruthless.

Most pleasing was the performance of Brunt, who took her first wickets since the loss to Australia more than two weeks ago, while the swashbuckling Wyatt got a much-needed score at the top of the order.

Bangladesh, who have never played a one-day international for England, should not pose a serious threat to their semi-final ambitions.

It is possible that England are peaking at the right time after a poor start to their World Cup defence.

Resurgent Brunt leads England charge

Brunt has only been a bowler for five games, but he has cut a frustrated figure on the field.

She was transformed from the moment Knight missed the outswinger by Nahida Khan. Brunt had a smile on his face as he swiped Nida Dar off an inside edge and then tossed Sidra Ameen off an inside edge.

Pakistan inflicted a lot of damage on themselves. Omaima Sohail was hit in the head by a Tammy Beaumont direct hit, while Captain Bismah was run out coming back for a second.

She had a constant threat with her bounce and accuracy. Pakistan lost their last five for 26 runs as a result of two catches from Amy Jones.

The opening spot for England has been a problem, so for Wyatt to play with such freedom is a bonus.

She was dropped on four to play flowing strokes through the covers.

She struck the winning runs with her 11th four, her first in 12 one-dayers.

'Our most complete performance yet'

Heather Knight said that it was their most complete performance so far. It is nice to not have a nervy one.

We went in to win but the secondary goal was to increase our net run-rate a bit so we are really pleased with how we have done.

The bowlers were outstanding, even though the pitch was a bit green, they still had to put the ball in the right areas and they found a good length. I am so pleased forKatherine, she has had a tough tournament so far but to see her back at her best was brilliant.

The player of the match was Danni Wyatt. You can doubt yourself after a few failures. To get some form going into this part of the tournament is crucial, and I wanted to be opening again.

I am really happy to have contributed today. I would have liked it to have been shorter. It is about training, working hard and putting things right.