ICC Women's World Cup: Confident Bangladesh to face England in Wellington


FE Team | Published: March 26, 2022 21:04:27 | Updated: March 27, 2022 18:34:48


ICC Women's World Cup: Confident Bangladesh to face England in Wellington

Bangladesh might be at their first Women's World Cup, but they are proving good to their captain's word that they are there to "compete and not just participate".

A win over Pakistan and close contests against South Africa and West Indies have shown Bangladesh to be the surprise package of the tournament.

And now Nigar Sultana Joty's side stand in the way of England, who must win their final group game in Wellington to ensure qualification for the final four, according to BBC.

The match between Bangladesh and England in Wellington will begin at 4:00 am (Bangladesh time) on Sunday.

Bangladesh led by 'calm, but sometimes crazy' Joty

Joty, aged just 24, has been at the heart of Bangladesh's surprise World Cup journey.

She describes her captaincy style as "calmness, sometimes craziness and sometimes very aggressive".

England will be wary of this approach. It was evident in the nine-run victory over Pakistan, in only Bangladesh's second-ever World Cup match.

"Every time I've played against Pakistan it feels different," said Joty, alluding to the historical enmity between the countries. "We were confident against Pakistan, we've played against them many times."

The team felt "shocked and excited" after the win, Joty added.

In the field, Bangladesh have stuck to a blueprint of tight lines with the new ball before applying a mid-innings squeeze with an array of spin options.

England will have analysed the awkward new-ball threat posed by Jahanara Alam, complete with distinctive green headband and blonde streaks.

But it is in the spin department that Bangladesh have really excelled.

"Salma (Khatun), Rumana (Ahmed), Fahima (Khatun) and Nahida (Akter) were brilliant against Pakistan," said Joty.

The four spinners instigated a spectacular Pakistan batting collapse, which saw six wickets fall for 32 runs.

As the wickets fell against Pakistan, and when the result was confirmed, Bangladesh captured the attention of the cricketing world with their unscripted and spontaneous celebrations.

"We've played together for many years, and we want to live every moment as this is our very first World Cup - we are excited," said Joty.

"Nahida and Fahima wanted to celebrate in a different way, their style, and I imitated that style."

As well as the celebratory dancing, a social media clip of jubilant singing on the team bus has been widely shared.

Joty describes all-rounder Ritu Moni as the team joker - "she's a smiley person and she's trying to be funny all the time".

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