Monday, October 6, 2025

WWC 2025: Spin-heavy Bangladesh look to challenge England in rare meeting

England take on Bangladesh in an ODI World Cup match!

The sentence itself is an event. Despite qualifying for back-to-back ODI World Cups – in 2022 and now in 2025 – Bangladesh have faced England only once in the format, and that too in the previous edition.

“This is the stage where we show our capabilities so that teams like England and Australia show interest in playing against us,” Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said on match eve.

As per the new future tours programme which will run from 2025-29, Bangladesh are scheduled to tour England for three ODIs and as many T20Is in September 2027. That is perhaps when the fixture will stop being an event.

On the field, both teams are coming on the back of comfortable wins. England’s multi-pronged attack could pose a tough challenge for Bangladesh, whose batters often struggle to force the pace. Conversely, if the track assists spin, Bangladesh’s spin-heavy attack led by Nahida Akter could be more than just a handful for England. Their batters were hardly challenged in the opening game.

She is just 21 ODIs old, but Emma Lamb is already adapting to a second role in England’s batting unit. A natural opener, she scored her only century at the top of the order and was the leading run-scorer in the ECB Women’s One-Day Cup while opening for champions Lancashire. At the start of this English summer, though, Amy Jones was promoted to open, and Lamb was moved to No. 3 when Heather Knight was recovering from a hamstring injury. Now, with Knight back for the World Cup, Lamb is set to take on an altogether different role – batting in the lower-middle order and chipping in with a few overs of offspin. She wasn’t needed with either bat or ball in England’s tournament opener, but could get her first go in this new role against Bangladesh if her team bats first.

Marufa Akter just loves to bowl. After setting the tone in Bangladesh’s win over Pakistan, she lit up their first practice session in India. With rain forcing the team indoors, Marufa was full of energy, bowling at full tilt two days out from the contest. She constantly troubled captain Sultana in the nets, eventually bowling her once. With her ability to move the new ball and generate sharp pace, Marufa could be a real handful for England’s openers – Tammy Beaumont tends to struggle against the incoming angle early on, while Jones prefers a cautious start.

Given England’s line-up was hardly tested against South Africa, expect them to go in with an unchanged XI.

England (probable XI):  Tammy Beaumont,  Amy Jones (wk),  Heather Knight,  Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt),  Sophia Dunkley,  Emma Lamb,  Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean,  Sophie Ecclestone,  Linsey Smith,  Lauren Bell

Against England’s right-hand heavy line-up, Bangladesh could look to play left-arm spinner Sanjida Akter Meghla for an offspinner in Nishita Akter Nishi.

Bangladesh (probable XI):  Fargana Hoque,  Rubya Haider,  Sharmin Akhter,  Nigar Sultana (capt & wk),  Sobhana Mostary,  Shorna Akter,  Fahima Khatun,  Nahida Akter,  Rabeya Khan,  Marufa Akter,  Nishita Akter Nishi/Sanjida Akter Meghla

[Cricinfo]



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