Heather Knight led England to a 42-run win over Pakistan on Friday night, a day after Australia's Beth Mooney continued her love for the ground.

The 29-year-old captain made Pakistan pay after being dropped twice (on 36 then 51), going on to notch 62 runs from 47 balls.

She's now scored 384 runs in nine T20 matches at Manuka Oval, a wicket considered to be a batter's paradise.

"We've had a lot of success here, especially Heather Knight, she's had a brilliant time here," spin-bowler Sarah Glenn said.

"There's a lot of good memories, but it's nice to leave it in a good place as well and take that momentum into Sydney."

England will look to cement their spot in the semi-finals when they meet the West Indies at Sydney Showground Stadium on Sunday.

Four of the five teams in Group B remain in contention for two semi-finals spot, with England sitting in second place behind the unbeaten South Africa.

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

It started with a sense of deja vu for England after an early order collapse left the world No.2 sweating on 2-47.

Amy Jones went out for two with a failed LBW review, before fellow opener Danni Wyatt was caught for 23.

In rode the skipper to save the day with Natalie Sciver, but a dominant display by wicketkeeper Sidra Nawaz kept the partnership to 34 runs.

Pakistani bowler Nida Dar ended Knight's innings with back-to-back wickets, with the captain being caught a ball after Tammy Beaumont went out for six.

"Knight is good at anchoring the innings but at the same time pushing the game forward and going hard at the bowlers," Glenn said.

"She was very crucial to the win."

Pakistan started their innings with a sense of deja-vu, being kept to one run in the first over before Muneeba Ali Siddiqui was bowled for 10.

It seemed as if Javeria Khan would led Pakistan's run chase when she hit four stunning boundaries, but Glenn silenced the batter and bowled her out for 16.

Glenn continued to cause Pakistan headaches as she went stump-to-stump took another two wickets, sending out Iram Javed (4) and Omaima Sohail (7).

Aliya Riaz brought Pakistan hope with a 41-run haul, but it came to no avail as they fell 9-116 in 19.4 overs.

"We learned we need to build more partnerships and have less mistakes in fielding and bowling," Riaz said.

AT A GLANCE

T20 World Cup: ENGLAND 158-7 (Heather Knight 62, Natalie Sciver 36, Aiman Anwar 3-30) bt PAKISTAN 9-116 (Aliya Riaz 41, Sarah Glenn 3-15, Anya Shrubsole 3-25)