Anjum Chopra and Rumeli Dhar stitched an unbroken 106-run partnership for the fourth wicket as India beat England by seven wickets in the league match of the women's cricket World Cup in Pretoria on Monday.
Chasing a modest target of 140 runs, the Indians had a disastrous start as they were reduced to 35 for 3 in 20 overs before Chopra (64 not out) and Dhar (42 not out) took them to victory with 4.1 overs to spare.
This was India's third win in a row after their first match against Sri Lanka was washed out due to rain. The Indians now have 20 points from four matches and are second behind Australia in the standings due to a lower net run rate.
Earlier, England captain C J Connor elected to bat after winning the toss but her decision soon back fired as half of the team was back in the pavilion for just 94 runs after 36.4 overs.
Opener C M Edwards (58) and A Brindle (51 not out) were the only two batswomen to show some resistance against the Indian bowling as none of the other England player managed to reach double figures.
The entire team was bowled out for 139 in 49.3 overs.
Medium pacer Jhulan Goswami was the wrecker-in-chief, claiming four wickets for 27. Left arm spinner Neetu David chipped in with three for 23 from her 10 overs.
The Indians also struggled in their reply as they lost both the openers -- Anju Jain and Jaya Sharma -- with just 24 runs on the board.
And when they lost skipper Mithali Raj in the 20th over, things started to look a bit difficult for the Indians. But Dhar and Chopra ensured that their were no more hiccups as they put on 106 runs for the fourth wicket to take India to victory.
Chopra, who hit the winning runs, a boundary off Katherine Brunt, to finish unbeaten on 64 off 119 balls, was named the player of the match.
In the other matches, Australia defeated South Africa by 97 runs, while West Indies thrashed Sri Lanka by eight wickets.
