England survived a scare against Bangladesh as Heather Knight (79* off 111 balls) and Charlie Dean (27* off 56 balls) stitched together a 79-run stand for the unbeaten seventh wicket to help the four-time champions to a four-wicket win with 23 balls to spare in their second league match of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in Guwahati on Tuesday.Opting to bowl first at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, England bowlers did their job to restrict Bangladesh to 178 in 49.4 overs. But their batters made heavy weather of the chase as England were down to 103/6 in the 30th over. Then Player-of-the-Match Knight, with all her experience, combined with Dean to take England home without any further hiccup in the 47th over and register back-to-back wins in the marquee event.Defending a below-par total against their heavyweight opponents, leg-spinner Fahima Khatun kept Bangladesh in the hunt with a magical spell of spin bowling as she returned with 3/16 from 10 overs. Khatun took three quick wickets in the forms of England captain Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Sophia Dunkley and Emma Lamb to leave England tattering at 78/5 in the 23rd over. She scalped Sciver-Brunt and Dunkley in the 19th over, while Lamb returned in the 23rd.Earlier, medium pacer Marufa Akter gave Bangladesh a perfect start by dismissing in-from opener Amy Jones in the very first over and the other opener Tasmin Beaumont in first ball of the 7th over, both trapped in front of the stumps.Earlier, No. 4 Sobhana Mostary (60) held the Bangladesh innings together as wickets tumbled at the other end. Opener Sharmin Akhter had made a struggling 30 but after that Mostary didn’t get any partnership going before Rabeya Khatun played a cameo (47*) in the end. Wickets at regular intervals meant Bangladesh fell way behind the 200-run mark.
Poll
What was the key factor in England’s victory over Bangladesh?
Sophie Ecclestone (3/24) was the star among England bowlers while Linsey Smith, Dean and Alice Capsey claimed two wickets each. Lauren Bell had provided England with the first breakthrough of the day.Bangladesh will stay back in Guwahati to take on New Zealand next on Friday while England travel to Colombo to face co-hosts Sri Lanka on Saturday.
