ENG-W vs BAN-W

With this win, England have leapfrogged India on the points table and currently sit pretty at the apex spot. However, they will be the first to admit that that they pretty much dodged a bullet today.

Bangladesh were impressive, but not enough to trounce the former champions. Though, their fans would hope that they can take the learnings of this game into their next fixture. They face New Zealand at the same venue on Friday. Meanwhile, England will head to Colombo to face Sri Lanka on Saturday.

But before that, tomorrow it will be Australia vs Pakistan. We will be there to take you through it all. For now, it is the duo of Darpan Tikiya and Karthik Raj signing off. Sayonara!

Natalie Sciver-Brunt (England captain): "We did what we needed to do to get over the line. We talked before the tournament that things might not always look pretty but it is about getting through to the finish line. That is what we did. Alice Capsey bowled some important overs. That was valuable. We were happy to keep them down to that score. We are pretty lucky to have Sophie (Ecclestone) and Linsey (Smith). Both can bowl at death. But maybe with the lights coming on, we need to have more options. We have some depth in batting with Charlie (Dean) coming in at that number. We would have liked to do with less wickets down, but we will take it. (on Heather Knight) She read the game really well. It is good to have her back."

Nigar Sultana Joty (Bangladesh Captain): "It was an incredible game. The way my girls fought was incredible. We lost early wickets. Sharmin (Akhter) and Sobhana (Mostary) tried to build a partnership. Needed one batter to bat through. We were short by 20-30 runs. (On promoting Rabeya Khan) Maybe, we will think about it later. The way she played was amazing and inspiring. I wanted them to play till the last ball. If you use all the balls, we can get 10-12 extra runs. They are very young, we wanted to give some knowledge. She needs some time to recover but she will be fine for the next game. The kind of start we wanted, Marufa (Akter) gave us. We wanted to bowl in the right areas. Fahima bowled really well. If she got support from Rabeya (Khan) and Nahida (Akter) as they are our main bowlers, we could have had a chance."

Manish Chaurasiya: "If Fatima Khatun's overs had been bowled first, the result of the match would have been different."
What do they say, Manish? There is no "shoulda, woulda and coulda" in sport.

Heather Knight (Player of the Match): "Could have been out three times which I can't say has happened before. Different conditions to England. Bangladesh have got a good bowling attack as well. We made it a little tough for ourselves, wasn't easy to get going. First proper game in the middle. I thought they bowled very well up front. It became easier later on. They took a lot of pace off the ball, so it was tricky to go over the top. (About Marufa Akter) She is a very good bowler. Very good swing bowling, threats the pads. (About her contentious reprieve) I thought it carried and it was a fair catch, that is why I walked off. Then, the TV umpire decided. Alice Capsey as well but yeah Charlie (Dean) was brilliant. We were keeping it simple. Played more attritionally than we would have liked but the pitch demanded it. (On Dean) She has worked a lot on her batting, pleased for her. Think I have a lost a bit of weight here (laughs). Played ODI cricket after a while."

9:44 PM IST: England win by 4 wickets.

Heather Knight 80* (112) | Sophie Ecclestone 3/34 (10)
Sobhana Mostary 60 (108) | Fahima Khatun 3/16 (10)

Coming into this tournament, Bangladesh had only ever won one match in World Cup history. After defeating Pakistan comprehensively in their opening game, today they gave former champions England a run for their money too. In the end, Heather Knight might have led her team home with a comfortable margin of 23 balls to spare, but it did not look as easy an hour or so ago.

Once again, Marufa Akter set the tone with those prodigious in-swinging deliveries of hers. A few up top were awry and resulted in wides. But when she got her radar right, she asked questions that the England top-order found difficult to answer. Her probing spell was followed by another impressive one from leg-spinner Fahima Khatun, who hogged the limelight during the middle overs with her 3fer. At 103/6, England appeared to be a in a pickle.

But the stubborn partnership between Heather Knight and Charlotte Dean steadied the ship and eventually took them over the finish line. Marufa's injury which sent her off the field post that opening spell hurt Bangladesh. As did some controversial calls from the TV umpire.  Heather Knight should have been out at least twice — their fans would tell you. And it is hard to argue against it.

She was on 0 when she was given out on the park for the first time. In her own words, TV umpire Gayathri Venugopalan overturned that call despite "no conclusive evidence". Then, when she was on 13, a catch by Shorna Akhter was deemed illegitimate and Knight had to be called back from the dugout.

But in the end, it is what you make of the chances you get and with her responsible knock, the former skipper did make the most.

Earlier, Sobha Mostary's gritty half-century and Rabeya Khan's effervescent cameo had headlined the Bangladesh innings. Meanwhile, for the umpteenth time, Sophie Ecclestone turned out to be England's best bowler on the day.

46.1 Sobhana Mostary to Charlotte Dean, ENGLAND GET HOME! Full-toss outside-off, Dean comes down the track and drives it through the covers for a boundary. A huge sigh of relief for England as they pull off a four-wicket win with 23 balls to spare!

45.6 Shorna Akter to Heather Knight, full leg-break outside-off, Heather walks across to her right and tries to clip it square but she only manages a leading-edge which rolls towards the bowler. No run.

45.3 Shorna Akter to Heather Knight, IN THE AIR AND SAFE! Full delivery, Heather comes down the track and chips it over mid-off for a couple of runs.

44.6 Rabeya Khan to Heather Knight, LUCKY AND FOUR IT IS! Full on the leg-stump, Heather runs down the track and looks to go big down the ground but she only manages an inside-edge. The ball slowly trickles onto the boundary cushion with no fielder nearby.