Captain's Crucial Knock Guarantees England's Hard-Fought Victory Against Bangladeshi Side

International Cricket Council Women's Global Tournament, Guwahati Stadium

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

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

England won by four wickets

Heather Knight's unbeaten 79 guided the English team to a hard-earned four-wicket success over the Bangladesh squad, keeping their undefeated start in the World Cup tournament in Guwahati.

Needing a modest 179 to win on a challenging pitch, England slumped to 78-5 and 103 for 6 as their familiar difficulties against spin continued.

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

Fast bowler Marufa dismissed openers Amy Jones and Beaumont early on with swinging deliveries, before the key moment arrived in the 15th over when former captain Knight was awarded a second chance on 13.

Knight drilled the ball to Shorna at extra cover, but the third umpire ruled that the fielder had touched the ball along the turf as she dived forward, following her also successfully reviewing a caught behind and an leg before wicket.

After that, she was gritty and composed in her return following from a injury, as England edged a nerve-wracking contest that nearly became one of the tournament's major upsets.

Fahima was the instigator of the English batting collapse with three wickets for 16 runs, leading an admirable bowling display after their batters had similarly struggled.

The team’s spinners expectedly dominated, taking nine dismissals between them as the opposition were dismissed for 178 in 49.4 overs.

Ecclestone stood out with three for 24 while Dean, Linsey Smith and Alice Capsey took two wickets.

They faced resolute defiance from Sobhana, who scored 60 from 108 deliveries, before Rabeya Khan provided some late and crucial momentum with an unbeaten 43 from 27 balls.

The England squad travel to Colombo to continue their tournament, taking on Sri Lanka on the weekend.

England captain Sciver-Brunt: "We did what we had to do to secure the win. Earlier, we spoke as a team that not every match is going to be easy and we will require some resilience in our game. It might have looked a bit better but we are very pleased."

"Their composure they both showed in a high pressure situation was excellent. We hoped to have won with a few less wickets lost but that is the manner it went in the end."

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty: "That was an amazing game, particularly with the manner my players fought until the last ball."

"I felt perhaps 20-30 runs short on that wicket. Could Rabeya have batted higher?"

"I wanted the batswomen to play until the last ball because we could have scored 10-12 runs more. Our players are very young and sometimes not making the right choices and we wanted to provide them knowledge to succeed in the middle overs."

Ex-England bowler Alex Hartley: "England must to improve at playing spin. For any rival team, you are aware you have to bowl as much spin bowling as is feasible on the surface you have against England."