Captain's Vital Knock Secures England's Hard-Fought Victory Versus Bangladesh

ICC Women's Global Tournament, Guwahati Stadium

Bangladesh 178 (49.4 overs): Sobhana 60 (108); Ecclestone 3-24

England 182-6 (46.1 overs): Knight 79* (111); Fahima 3-16

The English Side won by four wickets in hand

The captain's unbeaten 79 steered England to a hard-earned four-wicket success over the Bangladesh squad, maintaining their undefeated start in the Women's World Cup in Guwahati.

Needing a modest 179 to win on a tricky pitch, the England lineup stumbled to 78 for 5 and 103-6 as their familiar difficulties against spin bowling continued.

But, a patient, unbroken stand of 79 between Knight and Charlie Dean, who scored 27, enabled the team reach their goal in the 47th over.

Seamer Marufa Akter dismissed top-order batters Jones and Tammy Beaumont early on with swinging balls, before the key moment came in the 15th over when skipper Heather Knight was given a reprieve on 13.

Knight drilled the ball to Shorna Akter at extra cover, but the third umpire decided that the player had touched the ball along the turf as she dived forward, following Knight also successfully reviewing a catch appeal and an leg before wicket.

After that, she was gritty and disciplined in her return following from a injury, as England edged a tense match that could have been one of the competition’s major upsets.

Fahima was the catalyst of the English batting wobble with 3-16, leading an admirable bowling display after their batters had also faced difficulties.

England's spinners unsurprisingly excelled, claiming nine dismissals between them as the opposition were bowled out for 178 runs in 49.4 overs.

Sophie Ecclestone starred with 3-24 while Dean, Smith and Capsy took two wickets.

There was stubborn defiance from Sobhana, who scored 60 runs from 108 balls, before Rabeya added some final and crucial runs with an unbeaten 43 from 27.

The England squad head to Colombo to resume their campaign, taking on the Sri Lankan team on Saturday.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt: "We accomplished what we had to do to secure the win. Earlier, we discussed as a group that not everything is going to be easy and we will require some mental strength in our game. It might have looked a bit smoother but we are very happy."

"The calmness they [Knight and Dean] displayed in a tense situation was excellent. We hoped to have won with a fewer wickets lost but that is the way it went in the end."

Bangladeshi skipper Joty: "That was an incredible game, especially with the manner my players battled until the final delivery."

"I felt maybe 20 or 30 runs short on that wicket. Should she have batted earlier?"

"My aim was for the batters to play until the end because we could have scored 10 or 12 runs more. Our players are very young and sometimes not making the right choices and we aimed to provide them knowledge to succeed in the middle overs."

Ex-England bowler Alex Hartley: "England must to get better at facing spin bowling. If you are rival team, you know you have to bowl as much spin bowling as is possible on the pitch you have versus England."