Skipper Heather Knight blasted a fluent fifty before spin twins Sarah Glenn and Sophie Ecclestone shared five wickets as England registered a 42-run win over Pakistan to strengthen their semi-final bid at the ICC Women-s T20 World Cup here on Friday.

Invited to bat, Heather Knight 62 and Natalie Sciver 36 continued their fine form as England posted 158 for seven. They returned to dismiss Pakistan for 116 for their second successive win and also close their gap on South Africa in Group -B-. Glenn 3-15 and Ecclestone 2-12 exercised unrelenting control over the Pakistan run-chase as Bismah Maroof-s side failed to back up their opening win over the West Indies.