Sophie Ecclestone's superb bowling (2 wickets for 15 runs) followed by a 64-run standoff 55 balls for the third wicket between Natalie Sciver Brunt (48 not out) and opener Danielle Wyatt (43) helped England beat South Africa by seven wickets in a crucial Group B match of the Women's T20 World Cup here on Monday to register their second consecutive win.

England, who defeated Bangladesh in their first match, strengthened their claim for the semi-finals with this victory. After restricting South Africa to 124 runs for six wickets, England achieved the target with three wickets in hand with four balls to spare. Sever Brunt did not let the South African bowlers dominate by hitting six fours in his aggressive innings of 48 runs not out in 36 balls. He got good support from Wyatt who hit four fours in his 43-ball innings.

For South Africa, Marizanne Kapp, N. Mlaba, and Nadine de Klerk took one wicket each.

Earlier, Kapp also contributed 26 runs in 17 balls with the bat. Captain Laura Woolfart scored 42 runs in 39 balls while Anri Dirksen scored an unbeaten 20 runs in 11 balls. Like the last match, England's plan of playing with four spinners in this match also proved to be effective. Apart from the two wickets of Player of the Match Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Charlie Dean, and Sarah Glenn got one wicket each.

While chasing the target, England's batsmen also faced difficulty in scoring runs in the initial overs. Maia Busher hit a four in the second over of this bowler after bowling a maiden over of Kapp. From the other end, Daniel Wyatt hit a four against Ayabonga Khaka. Kapp bowled his second maiden over in the fifth over of the innings and ended Busher's slow innings of eight runs in 20 balls by trapping him LBW.

Alice Capsey reduced the pressure by hitting two fours in the sixth over against Chloe Tryon as soon as she came to the crease. England had scored 28 runs for one wicket in the power play. She welcomed this bowler with a four in the eighth over as well. De Klerk ended Capsey's innings of 19 runs in 16 balls by taking a brilliant catch on her own ball in the next over.

Nat Siver-Brunt showed confidence by hitting a brilliant four from the left side of backward point against Ayabonga Khaka. He got good support from Wyatt from the other end. While Siver-Brunt hit a four against Sune Luus in the 13th over, Siver-Brunt brought the required run rate close to six by hitting two fours against Kapp, who gave five runs in the first three overs. Wyatt was stumped in an attempt to hurry up to finish the match by hitting a four against Malaba in the 18th over, but from the other end, Siver-Brunt ensured the team's victory with fours against de Klerk and Ayabonga Khaka.

Earlier, after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, South Africa's batsmen had trouble adjusting to the slow pitch here. Woolfart was running and stealing runs and hitting fours in between, but Tejmin Brits (13) had to face trouble against the spinners.

Woolfart hit the ball across the boundary line against Smith and Siver-Brunt. Smith ended Brits' 19-ball innings in the sixth over. Woolfart's four in the same overtook the team's score to 37 runs for one wicket in the powerplay.

England's spinners kept the screws tight after the powerplay. Anneke Bosch was struggling from one end while Woolfart ran and stole runs from the other end to reach the team's fifty in the ninth over. Bosch hit the team's first four after 44 balls by reverse sweeping against Glenn but was bowled on the next ball. She scored 18 runs in 26 balls.

Marizanne Kapp adopted an aggressive approach as soon as she came to the crease and hit an attractive four in the cover area against Siver-Brunt but Ecclestone bowled Woolfart in the 16th over. Kapp accelerated the run rate by hitting fours on consecutive balls against Dean in the next over. Dirksen hit the only six of the match against Smith but Ecclestone bowled Kapp to give a big blow to South Africa. Dirksen took the team to 124 runs with fours on consecutive balls against Siver-Brunt in the last over.