England held their nerve to edge past India by four runs and book a place in the semifinals of the Women's World Cup here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, England rode on skipper Heather Knight's classy 109 off 91 balls (15x4, 1x6) -- in her 300th international appearance -- to post 288 for 8. Amy Jones contributed a solid 56 (68b, 8x4).

England were cruising at 249 for 3 in the 45th over before India's bowlers, led by off-spinner Deepti Sharma (4/51) and debutant Shree Charani (2/68), triggered a collapse that saw them lose five wickets in the final five overs.

In reply, India mounted a strong chase through Smriti Mandhana (88), Harmanpreet Kaur (70) and Deepti Sharma (50), but fell agonisingly short at 284 for 6 in their 50 overs.

The result gave England their spot in the semifinals along

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