England bat, Linsey Smith included in four-spinner attack

Toss England chose to bat vs Bangladesh

England opted to bat after winning the toss in Sharjah, selecting a four-woman spin attack for their opening game of the T20 World Cup.

Heather Knight, England’s captain, said that “dew hasn’t been a factor and it looks much easier to try to defend a total”, with England playing their first-ever women’s T20I at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Slow left-armer Linsey Smith, who England have hinted at using as an opening bowler, was picked ahead of Lauren Bell, with Danielle Gibson and Nat Sciver-Brunt providing the seam options.

Nigar Sultana admitted that Bangladesh would have done the same, having prevailed batting first against Scotland on Thursday. They made one change to their side, Dilara Akter replacing Murshida Khatun at the top of the order.

“We have a very good bowling attack and will look to restrict them to a total that we can chase,” Sultana said.

Bangladesh beat Scotland by 16 runs in the tournament’s opening match, their first T20 World Cup win in a decade. They have played England three times in T20Is, losing on each occasion – most recently at the 2018 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Bangladesh: 1 Shathi Rani, 2 Dilara Akter, 3 Sobhana Mostary, 4 Taj Nehar, 5 Nigar Sultana (capt & wk), 6 Shorna Akter, 7 Ritu Moni, 8 Fahima Khatun, 9 Rabeya Khan, 10 Nahida Akter, 11 Marufa Akter

England: 1 Maia Bouchier, 2 Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 3 Alice Capsey, 4 Heather Knight (capt), 5 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 6 Amy Jones (wk), 7 Danielle Gibson, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone 10 Sarah Glenn, 11 Linsey Smith

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

ENG-WBAN-W

100%50%100%

Current Over 14 • BAN-W 55/4

BAN-W needed 64 runs from 41 balls