England beat West Indies to secure semi-final place

England 186-7 (20 overs): Wyatt-Hodge 65 (42), Knight 43 (26)

West Indies 148-5 (20 overs): Henry 51* (30); Dean 2-31

England eased into the T20 World Cup semi-finals with a game to spare by comfortably beating West Indies by 38 runs at Lord’s.

Amid sweltering conditions in London, England impressively built a score of 186-7 with Danni Wyatt-Hodge making 65 and Heather Knight 43.

That was the highest score in women’s T20s at Lord’s and England snuffed out any chance of the Windies pulling off the chase.

Windies captain Hayley Matthews was aggrieved to be given out caught behind on review in the fourth over and England’s stand-in skipper Charlie Dean had Deandra Dottin well caught at long-on by Alice Capsey at the end of the sixth.

Thereafter, and with the game long decided, England dropped six chances, five of which were tough, in the back half of West Indies’ innings to blot their copybook somewhat. It meant West Indies limped on to 148-5.

Still, England’s progression to the last four is assured before Saturday’s final group game against New Zealand. They are also on a six-match winning run.

It is still to be confirmed who England will play, or whether they will play in Tuesday’s first semi-final or the second on Thursday, but South Africa or India currently appears most likely.

The dropped catches will frustrate England. Otherwise they were impressive again.

England posted 219-1 against Sri Lanka and 200-5 against Scotland. This score was worth as many given the step up in opposition – West Indies knocked England out of the last T20 World Cup, remember – and the state of the pitch.

One concern is the form of opener Amy Jones, who sliced a catch to short third to fall in the first over for the second match in succession.

Afterwards England cleverly countered the slow surface with sweeps and reverse sweeps, scoring 49% of their runs behind square. They also ran 79 of their runs – impressive given the heat.

Wyatt-Hodge, who put on 66 with Alice Capsey (28), and Knight ensured captain Nat Sciver-Brunt was not missed at the top of the order and, with finishers Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson failing to repeat their Headingley fireworks, Dean and Sophie Ecclestone added three boundaries in the last over.

Sciver-Brunt, who had another scan on her troublesome calf on Wednesday, will now surely not be risked against the White Ferns.

England have reached the semi-final or final in five of the past six World Cups only to falter in the pressure matches. Here, though, momentum is building. This is starting to feel like a real opportunity.