Kent captain Charlotte Edwards scored 45 as England Women beat Pakistan Women by 43 runs in their first group match of the ICC World T20.

England were put into bat and made 133-6 from their 20 overs. Laura Marsh hit seven boundaries and two maximums on the way to a career best T20 score of 54 in a 102-run partnership with Charlotte Edwards. Edwards posted 45 including five boundaries as the pair attacked from the first ball. England looked to accelerate in the final five overs but in doing so lost wickets in the middle order.

England’s spinners once again dominated to bowl Pakistan out for 90 in the final over. Holly Colvin took career best figures of 4-9 and Danielle Hazell took 2-19.  Player of the match Marsh also contributed with a wicket maiden in her first over.

England Women will play India in their second group match at Galle International Cricket Stadium on Saturday at 1.30pm local time.

Player of the match Laura Marsh said: “We were pleased  to get off to a good start today. We played positive cricket and that’s how we play our game.

“It’s always good to contribute, we look to go out there and hit boundaries and Charlotte and I did that. We’ve worked hard as a team on knocking the ball into the outfield even when there isn’t so much pace on it, so we are not concerned about facing spin.

“All the bowlers bowled well today and there was another good team performance in the field. We’re all happy with our positive start to the competition and look forward to playing India on Saturday.”