Taylor is underlining her number one status

Sarah Taylor might have to consider changing her nickname after being dubbed 'the Rock' by Charlotte Edwards.

The England women's captain bestowed the new moniker on the star batter during Monday's victory over Australia where Taylor scored an unbeaten 65 from just 53 balls.

Sarah Taylor clips the ball through midwicket during her innings of 65 which helped England women to a seven-wicket win in Gall

Yet Taylor, the number-one ranked Twenty20 batsman, did not have it all her own way. After struggling during the early part of her innings, the Sussex star battled the urge to swipe her way out of trouble in favour of dropping anchor.

"Lottie helped me a lot during that innings," Taylor revealed to ecb.co.uk.

"She said, 'You are our rock. If you stay in then we will win the match'.

"That meant a lot to me. It was a nice thing for her to say. It made me want to see it through to the end.

"In the past I might have got to 50 and got out but after Lottie said that I knew I had to see us home.

"I struggled to get it off the square. The pressure was mounting and we were behind after 10 overs but I never thought we were going to lose the game."

After a below-par performance in the field which allowed Australia to post a challenging 144 for five, England looked in trouble midway through their innings as spinners Lisa Sthalekar and Erin Osborne took a hold of the game.

A happy Taylor clinches her fist in celebration as England beat Australia to confirm their semi-final clash with old foes New Zealand

With England needing 90 runs from 10 overs, Taylor, mature beyond her 23 years, joined forces with Danni Wyatt and the pair threw off the shackles, hitting 10 boundaries to see England home with 11 balls to spare.

"I have to give it to Australia, they bowled really well," said Taylor.

"When (Ellyse) Perry and (Rachael) Haynes came back on we had to go for it. The run-rate was up at eight and nine - it was a case of live by the sword, die by the sword.

"Danni Wyatt was phenomenal. She played two amazing shots over the top off Perry. It was great to watch.

"In the end it looked like we cruised it but it felt a lot closer than that."

The seven-wicket victory - England were the only side to win all three group games - confirmed a semi-final meeting with New Zealand on Thursday.

"We have got the better of them in recent years but we won't be underestimating them," insisted Taylor.

"They have a lot of experience in their side and we will spend Wednesday having a good look at them."

Perhaps ominously for New Zealand is Taylor's assertion that England have yet to hit top form since arriving in Sri Lanka.

"We seem to be getting better with every game we play but we still haven't produced the complete performance," she said.

"Hopefully on Thursday we can get the bowling and fielding right as well as the batting."