Defending champion England Women have crushed Bangladesh Women by 100 runs to qualify for the semifinals.
England began their campaign in the worst way possible with three consecutive defeats in the first three matches. However, they have bounced back hard to win four successive games to ultimately qualify for the semifinals and stake their claim on the coveted ICC trophy.
England set up a target of 235 runs for Bangladesh by posting 234/6 in their 50 overs on the back of Sophia Dunkley’s surge in the death overs. Bangladesh, in reply, could only catapult 134 runs in 48 overs to end their miserable run at the ICC Women’s CWC 2022.
Here’s how the match panned out:
England won the toss and opted to bat first, an unexpected decision by the captain Heather Knight in a tournament where most of the teams opt to bat second when they happen to win the toss.
England did not have a great start and lost their opener, Danielle Wyatt and captain Heather Knight under the field restrictions. Beaumont and Sciver combined to put up a stand of 60 runs to keep England’s hopes alive. But Bangladesh again made its stride back into the match with quick dismissals of Beaumont and Sciver.
England struggled on 96-4 when Dunkley and Jones partnered to pull their team out of the troubled waters. Jones scored significant 30 runs, while Dunkley notched up 67 runs to propel England to 234/6 in 50 overs. Salma Khatun was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh. She picked up crucial wickets of Knight and Sciver to put England on backfoot in the middle overs.
Chasing 235, Bangladesh had a pretty decent opening stand of 42 runs. However, no one showed any character to stand up against the English bowlers following the opening pair. Sophie Eccelstone and Charlotte Dean helped England register a thumping victory by 100 runs to qualify for the semifinal.
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