The England women’s team opened their T20 World Cup campaign with a 21-run victory over Bangladesh, with Lynsey Smith brilliant with the ball. Smith took two wickets for just 11 runs in his four overs and was also instrumental in the run-out of the dangerous Nigar Sultana Joti. Under the leadership of Heather Knight, the English team restricted Bangladesh to 97 runs for seven wickets.
Charlie Dean and Smith both took two wickets and successfully defended the target of 119 runs. Earlier, Danny Waite-Hodge scored 41 and England scored 118 on a difficult pitch.
England won the toss and elected to bat first, and opener Maia Busheer got a chance when Rabia Khan dropped her catch for 16 runs. However, Rabia soon got Busheer out for 23 runs.
Nathalie Sciver-Brunt scored two runs and fell victim to Fahima Khatun, while Knight was bowled by Ratu Muni for 6, making England’s score 73 for 3. Waite-Hodge scored 41 runs and was also stumped early.
Fahima Khatun took two wickets for Bangladesh while restricting the England team to 118 runs.
Dean left Dalara Akhtar lbw for 6, and when fellow opener Shathi Rani was dismissed for 17 off Smith, Bangladesh were in trouble. Joti put up some resistance but was run out for 15 runs on Smith’s brilliant throw.
Bangladesh needed 64 runs in the last overs to win, but apart from Sohbana Mastari’s 44 runs, there was no notable score. Dean also took two wickets in the last minute, and the Bangladesh team managed to score 97 runs.
