| England 234-6 (50 superior): Dunkley 67, Sciver 40, Khatun 2-46 |
| Bangladesh 134 (48 rounds): Ecclestone 3-15, Dean 3-31 |
| I won 100 runs |
| Transcript. The table |
England will face South Africa in the semifinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup after effectively beating Bangladesh in Wellington.
The 100-game success at Basin Reserve continues a strong resurgence from the defending champions, who have won four in a row after starting the tournament with three straight losses.
On the surface of fatigue, England started with a siege against a hard-hit Bangladeshi, at one stage finding themselves 96-4.
They were raised to 234-6 by Sophia Dunkley, who reached 67 with the support of Amy Jones and Katherine Brunt.
Bangladesh, playing the final match of their first World Cup, never showed any serious intention in the chase.
Players Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean each won three points as Bangladesh were eliminated for 134.
England will face South Africa in the final round of four at Christchurch on Thursday (02:00 GMT), a repeat of a meeting between two teams at the same stage in 2017.
Australia take on the West Indies in the first semi-final in Wellington on Wednesday (23:00 GMT on Tuesday).
England’s comeback continues
Two weeks ago, when Britain suffered a crushing defeat to South Africa, the idea that their fate would be in their hands in the meeting with Bangladesh was a best-case scenario.
Once victories over India, New Zealand and Pakistan are complete, it seems unlikely that Bangladesh will ever pose a major threat, even if they terrified Australia on this ground two days ago.
Indeed, in their first day-long international meeting with Bangladesh, England were in complete control most of the time and progressed to the semi-finals with the momentum of four wins in a row.
Along with the win needed to secure their progress, England could have been mindful of keeping their scoring percentage high enough to avoid encountering the last four with unbeaten Australia.
However, a very aggressive approach strategy with the Bats was hampered by the worn surface, and England needed to be careful in the early stages against a belated push from Dunkley, Brunt and Ecclestone.
The goal of 235 runs is more than Bangladesh has ever achieved in a single international day, so the results are unquestionable this time around.
Ultimately, India’s defeat to South Africa on Sunday ensured net run rates don’t come into the equation and, with Britain ahead of the West Indies, it could prove important to stay out of the equation. Australia in the semi-finals.
Dunkley executive promote England
England were boosted by Brunt and Danni Wyatt’s much-needed performances against Pakistan, and in Wellington it was Dunkley’s turn to prove his worth.
As Nat Sciver fell to a fluent 40th, England were knocked down four times in 26 dangerous passes and flirting.
But Dunkley battled with intelligence and composure, adding 72 with Jones, who made 31. When it came time to speed up, England were able to go up to 79 in the last 10 passes – a ratio Impressive scoring with the conditions.
The surface looks ideally suited to England spinners, and the left-winger Ecclestone in particular excels with her accuracy and bounce.
Dean on the sidelines emphasized her status as England find the tournament, while runner Freya Davies, on the rested Anya Shrubsole team, won two trophies on her World Cup debut she.
Veteran speedballer Brunt delivered only 5 balls because of her back strain, but was not expected to be a suspect for the semifinals.
‘We need more experience’
England captain Heather Knight: “I’m really pleased, maybe I would have liked a few more runs, 250/260, but the shot was very slow. And we were clinical with the ball.
“The players all had a bit of a break between half to get used to the conditions here.
“It says a lot about this group, about how we’re going to turn things around. Not too bad, we missed a few close members. I definitely bit your arm off a few weeks ago just to be safe. in this situation.”
Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana Joty: “I think we need to play more games. I think we will learn a lot more. We come to explore, to gain a lot of experience.
“We want to take advantage of all the positives from here. At home, a lot of young girls are pursuing cricket and I think after the World Cup, I think there will be more.”
