Swindon-born Lauren Bell opened the wicket-taking for England as they progressed through to the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World Cup, beating India by four runs.
Nicknamed ‘The Shard’ due to her height, the six-foot fast bowler dismissed opening batter Pratika Rawal with an outswinging seam delivery that the Indian opener edged to wicketkeeper Amy Jones.
Bell finished on 52 runs conceded from nine overs, an economy of 5.78, with the wicket of Rawal.
The 24-year-old bowled the penultimate over of the India innings, with the women in blue requiring 23 runs off the final 12 balls to win the game, and Bell held them to just nine runs off her six deliveries.
Heather Knight laid the foundations for England’s defensive effort after she hit a century off 86 balls on her 300th international appearance as England set a total of 288 for India to chase
India looked set to take the victory as they sat on 222-3 after 38.4 overs, meaning they only needed 67 runs off 68 balls.
England’s win means they have booked their place in the World Cup semi-finals with two fixtures in hand.
