NICK HOWSON: A path into the last four has opened up for Heather Knight's side. Ahead of their penultimate group fixture against Pakistan, complacency is surely their biggest enemy
When England embarked on the defence of their 50-over World Cup crown, few would have expected two matches involving Pakistan to ultimately be the difference between them securing passage to the semi-finals and relinquishing their crowd with a whimper.
This is not meant as disrespect to Pakistan, but more to emphasise the situation the defending champions had got themselves into with two group matches remaining.
But courtesy of West Indies' eight-wicket defeat to Pakistan, a door to the semi-finals that was ajar is now wide open. Victory for Heather Knight's side against Pakistan on Thursday (March 24) and on Sunday against Bangladesh (March 27) and a last-four place is theirs.
While this Women's World Cup has thrown up surprises and close results at almost every juncture, this was an opportunity that looked to have gone after England brought their Ashes form into the opening three games of the tournament.
Narrow victories over India and New Zealand have followed and with a positive net run-rate, their fate is very much in their own hands, which should focus minds.
Sophie Dunkley has reached double figures in each of her five World Cup innings (SANKA VIDANAGAMA/Getty Images)
Though expected to maintain their 100 per cent over Pakistan in one-day internationals, Bismah Maroof's side are a different prospect than they were a few days ago after ending a 13-year wait for a World Cup win, thanks to victory over the Windies.
"They have played some good cricket and we are certainly not taking them lightly," Knight told BBC Sport.
"We have to make sure we're not complacent. Hopefully, we can go strong and put a complete performance together.
She added: "We have to bring our best game to beat them.
"We've managed to turn it around a little bit but still haven't played our best cricket. We've still got a long way to go.
"We feel like we're building. Our message at the beginning was it's not how you start at these tournaments, but how you finish. Hopefully, we can make that come true."
"I'm very happy and but of course, on the other hand, I want this team to carry on this momentum and look ahead."
Batter Sophia Dunkley echoed the comments in the official pre-match press conference.
"Yeah, they played really well the other day and yeah, beat West Indies really well," said the 23-year-old. "So they've got a lot of good players in that team.
"So it's a game and obviously we need to win. Yeah, we're going to be looking out for them and making sure we can combat that."
Having got the monkey off their backs, Pakistan's challenge now is to ensure they avoid finishing bottom of the table. While just a second win over England - they won a T20 in 2013 at Loughborough - would go a long towards achieving that, mitigating the damage to their net run rate would also be significant.
Seventh-place Bangladesh face Australia and England in their final two matches, while Maroof's side sign off against hosts New Zealand.
Pakistan ended a long wait for a 50-over World Cup win against West Indies (Michael Bradley/Getty Images)
The Pakistan skipper insists "we're not thinking about" potentially knocking England out of the tournament. But it is clear victory after 18 straight World Cup losses has taken the weight of expectation off the squad.
"A sigh of relief - we were under pressure and it's good to have a win and I think we just need to carry this momentum forward," Maroof explained. "And yeah, we're looking for two matches ahead now.
"Of course, I think this team has done a lot of hard work. But the results we had in the past, I think that has not got justice with the team.
"I think of course that will give us a boost as a team and of course for me I'm excited to be back and of course the win was important.
"I'm very happy and but of course, on the other hand, I want this team to carry on this momentum and look ahead."
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