England survive Bangladesh scare to go top of Women’s World Cup table
Former captain Heather Knight guided England to victory with an unbeaten 79, helping the four-time champions reach the target with 23 balls remaining.
Bangladesh's players along with England's Heather Knight and Charlie Dean walk back to the pavilion at the end of their World Cup match at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, India, on October 7, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
ENGLAND went to the top of the Women’s World Cup points table after defeating Bangladesh by four wickets in a tense chase in Guwahati on Tuesday.
Former captain Heather Knight guided England to victory with an unbeaten 79, helping the four-time champions reach the target with 23 balls remaining.
Knight, who lost the captaincy after the Ashes last winter, benefited from three reviews that went in her favour. She survived lbw decisions twice and was given a reprieve after a catch at cover was ruled not clean by the third umpire.
Yet to score, Knight overturned an lbw verdict on review. On eight, another lbw call went in her favour. Then on 12, she was ruled not out after replays showed the fielder had not taken a clean catch.
"It's probably the most reviews I've ever had go my way," Knight said. "That one at cover, I thought it was a fair catch. I walked off, but the TV umpire saw it differently."
Knight’s 27th half-century included eight fours and a six, with the sweep and reverse sweep proving key shots on a slow pitch.
At 103 for six, Bangladesh looked in control, but Knight found support from Charlie Dean as they added 79 runs for the seventh wicket to complete the chase.
Earlier, England’s spinners restricted Bangladesh to 178. Sophie Ecclestone took three wickets, while Linsey Smith, Dean and Alice Capsey took two each.
England fielded a spin-heavy attack to suit the subcontinental conditions, using close-in fielders like slip, silly mid-off and short cover.
Bangladesh struggled to score freely, with Sobhana Mostary top-scoring with 60. Rabeya Khan added 43 off 27 balls with six fours and a six to lift the total.
"We fought till the last ball and that’s what matters," Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said. "We were probably 30 short, but I’m proud of the fight the girls showed."
FORMER England captain Michael Atherton has called for an end to India-Pakistan matches in ICC tournaments, alleging that draws have been “neatly arranged” to ensure the two sides meet for “economic needs.” He said cricket between the two countries has become a “proxy for broader tensions and propaganda.”
In a column for The Times, Atherton referred to the recent Asia Cup, where the Indian team reportedly refused to shake hands with Pakistani players. He also mentioned that the Asian Cricket Council’s Pakistani head, Mohsin Naqvi, walked away with the winner’s trophy after the Indian players declined to accept it from him.
“India and Pakistan have played each other in the group stage of every ICC event since 2013, which includes three 50-over World Cups, five T20 World Cups and three Champions Trophy,” Atherton wrote.
“That is regardless of whether the initial stage has been a single round robin – part of the motivation for which is the inevitability of an India versus Pakistan fixture – or multi-group, when the draws have been neatly arranged to ensure the fixture goes ahead,” he added.
Tensions between the two countries have been high following the Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 Indians were killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists, leading to military action by India in May.
“Despite its scarcity (maybe, in part, because of its scarcity) it is a fixture that carries huge economic clout, one of the main reasons why the broadcast rights for ICC tournaments are worth so much — roughly USD 3 billion for the most recent rights cycle 2023-27,” Atherton wrote.
“Due to the relative decline in the value of bilateral matches, ICC events have grown in frequency and importance, and so the India and Pakistan fixture is crucial to the balance sheets of those who would not otherwise have any skin in the game,” he said.
Atherton said the time has come to end the “tacitly supported arrangement” of ensuring that the two teams meet in every ICC event. He noted that at the recent Asia Cup, the draw and schedule were such that the teams faced each other every Sunday of the three-week tournament.
“If cricket was once the vehicle for diplomacy, it is now, clearly, a proxy for broader tensions and for propaganda. There is little justification, in any case, for a serious sport to arrange tournament fixtures to suit its economic needs and now that the rivalry is being exploited in other ways, there is even less justification for it.
“For the next broadcast rights cycle, the fixture draw before ICC events should be transparent and if the two teams do not meet every time, so be it,” he said.
India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral series since the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Days before the Asia Cup, the Indian government announced a policy placing a blanket ban on bilateral sports engagements with Pakistan, even at neutral venues, but exempted multi-lateral events to comply with the Olympic Charter.
Atherton said the two countries are being deliberately drawn together to benefit from the tension that attracts large crowds and high viewership numbers, which are important for advertising revenue.
“This ‘arrangement’ has been tacitly supported within the game for a number of reasons. The most obvious is the inability of both teams, because of political tensions, to meet outside ICC events.
“Cricket on each other's territory was once the avenue through which both countries might talk, but gradually silence has descended.
“ICC events are the only occasions, at present, when the fixture can go ahead and now this must be on neutral territory too — the cause of much debate in the most recent Champions Trophy, when India parked themselves in Dubai for an entire tournament nominally hosted by Pakistan,” he said.
By clicking the 'Subscribe’, you agree to receive our newsletter, marketing communications and industry
partners/sponsors sharing promotional product information via email and print communication from Garavi Gujarat
Publications Ltd and subsidiaries. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the
unsubscribe link in our emails. We will use your email address to personalize our communications and send you
relevant offers. Your data will be stored up to 30 days after unsubscribing.
Contact us at data@amg.biz to see how we manage and store your data.