England once again dictated the terms with the ball in their hand. England not only took 4 wickets at 25 overs of Bangladesh’s innings, but the score was 88-4. The spin trio of Linsey Smith, Charlie Dean & Sophie Ecclestone made Bangladeshi batters dance on their tone as the surface was spinning hugely, and the rough on the surface was also getting created. The trio took a wicket each and made sure that Bangladesh was under pressure
England gets early wickets in the powerplay overs
Bangladesh was asked to bat first at Guwahati. England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt was quite optimistic that the bowlers would again inflict a dramatic collapse, just like they did against South Africa, where they bowled out the Proteas for 69 runs. Bangladeshi openers Rubya Haider & Sharmin Akhter gave a terrific start to the team as the score at the end of 4 overs was 23 runs for the loss of no wickets.
England then made a resounding comeback in the last 6 overs, which was laudable. Rubya Haider fell into the brilliant setup by Lauren Bell in the 5th over. Linsey Smith continued her foxy variations and impeccable lines & lengths as in the very next over, Nigar Sultana was out for a golden duck. Bangladesh managed only 8 runs from the 5th to the 10th over as their score was 31-2.
Sophie Ecclestone & Charlie Dean dismantle Bangladesh
Skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt was taken to the cleaners in the 11th over after getting hit to the ropes thrice as she conceded 14 runs in the 11th over of the match. Sophie Ecclestone from the other end was bowling meticulous line & lengths, the field placements were so attacking that it felt as if a Test match was going on, as two close catches in the fielders were there. At the end of the first drinks break at 15.2 overs, Bangladesh’s score was 59-2.
Sophie Ecclestone finally got rewarded, as just after the drinks break, Sharmin Akhter was deceived. Sharmin Akhter’s score was 30 runs in 52 balls. Sharmin had hit 6 fours in her innings as she was, we can say, in absolute control of the match. Bangladesh’s score was 59-3 in 15.3 overs. It was quite surprising to see that Bangladeshi batters didn’t rotate strike and played a string of dot balls.
Sobhana Mostary & Shorna Akhter tried to bring Bangladesh back in the game. The duo kept on ticking the scorecard, but still England was in ascendancy. Charlie Dean, in the 23rd over, went around the wicket and Shorna Akhter knicked the ball to the wicket-keeper. Bangladesh’s partnerships weren’t that effective, as at the halfway stage, their score was 88-4
What lies ahead for England & Bangladesh
England are in a very strong position as they have another chance of bowling out the opposition team. Nat Sciver-Brunt would be considering bowling out Sophie Ecclestone, as she has got the rhythm and is looking very threatening. Under the lights during England’s run chase, the surface might get trickier as Bangladesh also has sly spinners; we witnessed how they foxed Pakistani batters at the start of the tourney.
Bangladesh needs to make sure that,y utmost importantly, don’t play rash shots. A target around 200 can give them an outside chance and make the match interesting. It’s very clear that Bangladesh needs to play an attacking brand of cricket at some stage, but before that, stitch partnerships for close to 10 overs. Bangladesh has never won against England in an ICC ODI WC event match as who knows they might throw a counterattack punch and surprise the British team
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