Test Match Special - Women’s World Cup: England beat Bangladesh…just

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

Henry Moeran is alongside 2017 World Cup winner Alex Hartley and TMS commentator Daniel Norcross for reaction to England’s hard-fought win over Bangladesh in Guwahati. They discuss England’s batting depth and what Charlotte Edwards will learn from her side having been under huge pressure for much of the second innings.Plus, Heather Knight speaks to BBC Sport cricket writer Ffion Wynne, and both captains give their thoughts on the match.

You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. Players wait with one to win. Dean on strike. She comes down the wicket, slaps it through the offside. It's going to run away for four. And that is the victory by four wickets for England against Bangladesh in a really, really tight encounter. Heather Knight will take all the plaudits with an unbeaten 79.

But Charlie Dean, just as importantly with her, Alongside her bowling as well, of course, picking up a couple of wickets. She finishes on 27. So England, two from two at the start of their World Cup campaign. If the first win against South Africa was dominant and authoritative, the win against Bangladesh was anything but chasing a target of 179. England found themselves in all sorts of bother. At 103 for 6, it looked as though Bangladesh could do what felt almost unthinkable

and cause one of the great cricket World Cup upsets. But in the end, England's former captain, Heather Knight, with 79 not out, alongside Charlie Dean on 27 not out, a partnership worth 79, getting England home with a little under four overs to spare. It was compelling cricket here in Gouaharty. In the end, England getting the win by four wickets. They've made it two from two. low scoring maybe thrilling most definitely

World Cup winner Alex Hartley was watching on as has been Daniel Norcross and goodness me Alex England did it the hard way today as much as it was all so easy in that first game yeah well they did do it the hard way but I guess what they've shown today which we didn't necessarily see in January

was that grit and that determination and that fight and the willingness to take the game as deep as possible we were talking earlier about the time when they bowled. Australia out for 180 and then themselves were 160 all out. They had that middle order collapse and then didn't manage to get themselves over the line. But today, chasing 180, they lost wickets throughout. They had a middle order collapse.

But Gene, Dean and Knight towards the end were absolutely exceptional with a brilliant partnership of 79. Right, let's get some reaction immediately with Heather Knight. Heather, a bit of a wobble in the middle order there and tricky surface. but pleasing innings for you to get England over the line? Oh, look, in World Cup, it's all about getting the two points, isn't it? Yeah, I think we'll learn a lot from the experience. It was really tough conditions out there. I think Bangladesh bowed brilliantly.

We knew they had a really good bowling attack, and I think they had a really good game plan against us, obviously trying back the full 50, get as many as they could on that wicket and then trust their bowlers to try and take wickets. But, yeah, it was one of those where it was particularly tricky because it wasn't a sort of consistent spin. Obviously, it was spinning a lot,

but it wasn't all the time. The odd one was skid, and that's what makes it really tricky as a batter. Yeah, I'm just really pleased that I was able to do that, obviously, under a huge amount of pressure as well, knowing that I was key to try and shape that innings and just trying to get a few partnerships together. I thought a little one with Alice was really good, and then obviously that big one with Charlie, really pleased that we were able to soak up that pressure and, yeah, just find a way to get over the line, really. That's what World Cups are about and, yeah, we managed to do that today. And talk us through your game plan against the spin. I know you said it was inconsistent. How did you kind of navigate that or nullify that?

the case of settling in and then using your feet a bit more once you felt a bit more comfortable? Yeah, I struggled to get my rhythm early, to be honest. Yeah, obviously, I haven't had a huge amount of time in the middle, obviously, in real games with the injury and things like that. So, yeah, just finding my feet. I know playing spin is a real strength of mine, and I've got different options based on the conditions and the bowlers that were in. So I think for me, it was about being really precise on what ball I was going to attack and what I was going to defend. I had to trust my defence at certain times because they did bowl well. but I felt like when I did get in that rhythm

particularly in the middle and the back end of my innings I just was really precise with my footwork really clear game plan trying to sweep online using my feet to certain bowlers if they gave me that option and sort of hit hard down the ground but yeah it was one of those

where it was quite slow turns at times as well so you had to be really precise and struggle to get too many balls through the offside and yeah it was just about sort of soaking up that pressure a little bit not getting too frustrated and yeah just finding a way to get through that

and put the pressure back on when I had the opportunity. And for you, that's your first ODI since January. How have the last few months been for you in terms of preparation for this World Cup? And did that add a little bit more satisfaction to you for that innings? Yeah, certainly, like, I've obviously worked pretty hard to be here and to get back on the pitch. And yes, it's no doubt I've been undercooked in terms of the cricket I've been able to play. And I've had a lot of time in the pool, which doesn't really cut it in terms of the fitness stuff. But, yeah, I feel really good, actually.

I've managed that my body's had up pretty well. I'm sure there'd be a bit of stiffness tomorrow after fielding 50 overs for the first time and obviously having a bit of time out there in quite humid conditions. But yeah, I feel good and obviously, yeah, hugely satisfied that I was able to do that.

When I was out there, I wanted to really make it count because obviously it's been a tough couple of months obviously on the sidelines and trying to get back from that injury. So, yeah, I really enjoyed that middle bit and really enjoyed being able to shake the hands having won the match. And a couple of chances for you early on

in that innings road, your luck a little bit. But part and parcel of the game and moving on and absorbing that? Yeah, well, that's DRS. I obviously didn't hit it, so I was pretty sure I wasn't out there. And a method to the Inkswing bowl, who bowed brilliantly was just to try and get outside the line

and use my feet. So I felt like I was qualified down the wicket, so that wasn't going to be out as well. So, yeah, pretty thankful that DRS is the case. And, yeah, obviously the catch, like, I thought it was out on first look, but obviously that got overturned. And, yeah, I probably felt like I deserved a little bit of luck

after, obviously, the luck that I've had this year. Yeah, just tried to ride it and make the most of it and sometimes it's your day and you've got to try and make it count and try and win the game for the team, which I did. And lots of different group stage venues in this World Cup, onto Colombo next and indoor. We've been watching the other games and trying to maybe figure out what to expect there because it's obviously very spinner-friendly here for these first two. Yeah, bits and bobs. I think you kind of watch a little bit, but also try and switch off as well because it can get quite full if you watch every game. But that's a beauty of the World Cup. You get to go to so many different venues and you have to find a way to adapt.

to the different conditions you do get. So we've talked a lot, particularly as a batting group, how we're going to go about that. I've played at Colombo and VZag before, so I know those conditions a little bit. So, yeah, it would just be about trying to find a method on the day, trying to find what works. But that's the good thing about anode I work up.

It's so long. You play so many different teams, and you play in so many different conditions. And, yeah, India can vary quite a lot. So, yeah, looking forward to the challenge of the next place and looking forward to a little bit more freedom, hopefully, in Colombo. Well, that's Heather Knight player of the match after her 79 from 111 balls unbeaten helped England get over the line to chase down the target of 179 against Bangladesh and yeah, sensational game of cricket and it's worth just going through exactly how it played out as well because there were times during the Bangladesh innings where it felt very slow going indeed. England winning the toss bowling first and Sophie Eccleston's 3 for 24.

pick of the figures. Two wickets a piece as well for Lindsay Smith, Charlie Dean and Alice Capsie, Lauren Bell, striking with one. Shabana Mostri, first half century for her in ODI cricket, but it was Rebecca Kahn at the back end of the innings. Vital runs, 43 not out of 27, 178 at the halfway stage, though. You thought England are going to chase this down with relative ease, not a bit of it, as we saw that hooping in swing from Marufer Act, causing all sorts of problems getting the wickets of Beaumont and Jones both LBW Siverbrunt played nicely for 32 from 41 Dunkley and Emma Lamb scoring just one run between them Dunkley without scoring Lamb just the one and and that innings

from Alice Capsie that was mentioned in there as well useful runs 20 of 34 however the partnership between Dean and Knight is what got England home Knight 79 Dean 27 unbroken stand of 79 from 100 balls and in the end England could breathe a sigh of relief Daniel it was one of those games

where you thought it's probably England's but it wore for a while in there it really did get nerving well it was England's throughout Bangladesh's innings and we thought England's spinners had bowed pretty well actually

at the back end they lost it a touch because came off them Rabia Rabia Khan came after them and hit 43 out of the last sort of 48 run scored it It was a fabulously enterprising innings, but you still thought 178,

all that's really done is delayed the inevitable. But there's a couple of early wickets from Rufa actor who was very impressive. She nearly had Heather Knight out view times. She was given out LBW and managed to overturn that one. She was given out, caught behind a little bit more contentiously and managed to overturn that one. I think the third umpire decided there was no proof that the ball had hit,

bad it had it first had it then touched the bat. The third umpire decided she couldn't. tell if it had or not. Then there was the catch that wasn't. And then, as Heather said, it was trial by spin. And what the Bangladeshis did, which was so terrific, was they took the pace off so much. It was 41 miles an hour, 42 miles an hour. England would be pleased that they got over the line. But if you are Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who are their two next opponents, in Colombo, you're looking at that, and you're thinking, well, the pitching Colombo's got a little bit in it for the spinners

it's not a come on to the bat easily pitch like say we've seen it indoor they'll pack their side with spinners and they'll know that if you bowl accurately and slowly on a pitch with a bit of grab in it England's batters did not look comfortable and there's a lot of papering over some

cracks you might say in that partnership between Dean and Knight Dean's very very lucky to be there and if she hadn't been I'm not sure that I would have seen Dean Eccleston Smith and Bell getting England over the line. And if that had happened, then England would have been on the end of the most astounding upset in World Cup history after pulling off probably the most complete victory.

This is the team that we're dealing with in England. Alex, this problem with spin is one that we've spoken about a lot. I mean, it's mainly been a T20 cricket, really, but it is a theme that has unquestionably been a recurring one. Yeah, of course, and it's something that England are working on. It's something that they know that they need to work on. But if your opposition, or any opposition, you know that you've got a bowl as much spin as possible or as much spin as the surface will allow.

If you've got a flat track, you're not going to not play somebody like a Lauren Filer because you think a leg spinner might bowl well to England. You've got to play the circumstances, you know, in the right way. But yeah, England do need to get better at facing spin. But having said that, there's the most turn we've had out of the surface in this World Cup. It was a surface that was incredibly tough to bat on. Heather Knight said that herself, and death by spin, it kind of worked for Bangladesh.

But the one thing that England showed is they didn't fall in a heap like they have done previously. I mean, to give you an idea of the level of spin there, we had a stat that they weren't hitting their stumps as frequently as they were against South Africa. A lot of the reason for that, actually, was it was turning too much. And Charlie Dean bowled, a number of balls that started outside off, spun down the leg side. Right, let's join the post. Post-Bats presentation, the two captains.

First of all, Sultana Murnab only alongside Nassusay. It was an incredible game, definitely. How my girls actually fought till the last ball, it was incredible. 1-7-8 at the halfway mark. What did you make of your batting performance? See, we lost early wicked, but, you know, Sobana and Sorosupta wants to build a partnership there. But I think throughout the innings,

she'll want us to be there in the one side, but no one actually support her. Till the last hand, I think Rabea played really well in the last few overs, a bit a good cameo from her. But still, you know, I think this sort of wicket were short of 20 to 30 runs. Rabia batting at number nine and batting so well, not out 43. Could she, should she have been higher up the order? Maybe we are thinking, think about it later.

But how she played today, it was incredible and it is very inspiring. We saw you in the dugout, lots of messages going out towards the batters. What was your message? What were you not happy or wanted to do that? them to do better? See, I wanted them to play till the last ball because if you could use all the balls, maybe we can get 10 to 12 runs more.

It will be more effective from now we have what happening in the next innings, definitely. And they are very young and sometimes they couldn't make their decision, so we wanted to give them some knowledge that they can capitalize in the middle. You have an absolute gem with that new ball with Maruf. Firstly, how is she? And she is a wonderful bowler to captain.

She needs some time to recover, but she'll be fine for the next game, definitely. And I know that they start what we wanted. Marof actually gave us that. And on that momentum, we got so many weekends. But after six weekend down, we made so many mistakes over there. Couldn't bowl in the right areas and giving us also so many loose deliveries. Anything you could have done at all with that last partnership to break it? See, we wanted to bowl in the right areas.

I think Fimer did really well. but if we get some support from Rabia and Naheda especially because they are our main bowlers, maybe we do have some chance. Well, bad luck, but you played some seriously good cricket. Well done. Good luck with your next game. Thank you so much. If I can now have a word with the winning England captain, Nat Siverbrun. That was a close one.

What were your thoughts on that whole game? Yeah, I think we did what we needed to do to get over the line. I think before the tournament, we spoke as a group that not everything is going to be easy. all the time is going to look a little bit gritty and we'll need some resilience certainly in our skills and in the way we go about things so yeah we do what we had to do

to get over the line. It could have looked a bit better but yeah we're really happy to be on the winning side. And to bowl them out for 178 were you happy with those four spinners bowl really well? Yeah definitely yeah it felt pretty early on felt that a scene was a little bit easier to hit

so yeah the overs that Alice capsie bowled obviously we We've got three, you know, front-line spinners, but, yeah, Alice to come and bowl some important overs as well. I thought it was really valuable and, yeah, we were really happy to keep them to that score. One thing with the balance of that side, it gives you the extra batter, but what do you do at the death? They got quite a few valuable runs at the death. Do you have a spinner at the death and do you know who your spinning death bowler is? Yeah, we're pretty lucky that we've got Lindsay Ansafe who could definitely bowl at the death.

Yeah, maybe something for me to think about. Obviously, with the lights coming on towards the end of the innings, probably makes that wicket a little bit more zippy, so maybe bringing Lauren Bell back next time, but in hindsight, maybe we could do something certainly different. And the run chase, do you sit back and think, are we made hard work of that, or do you think in the past we have succumbed to pressure?

It's nice to come through that pressure situation. Yeah, I guess talking about the balance of the side, that's the great thing that we have, you know, Charlie coming in at that number. obviously the last wicket partnership was very crucial for us and I think the calmness that they both showed in obviously quite a high-pressure situation was brilliant so yeah I think we would have liked to have done it a few less wickets down

but yeah I suppose that's the way it went in the end great to have Heather back she showed all her class and her skill yeah absolutely obviously almost walking off a couple times as well so to be up for her to be able to switch on and obviously, I guess, read the game really well and know what she needed to do for the team. Yeah, she is brilliant to have her back. Well, played Colombo next for you.

Good luck over there. Thank you. The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. I think enormous credit has to go to Bangladesh for their efforts and brilliant to hear from there, Captain Nigel, Sultanate as well. Didn't score a run today, but I have to say, I love the attitude there of the frustration, she felt, too many scoring options. There was no sense of, oh, didn't we do well to compete?

There was, oh, we could have done an awful lot better there. Yeah, personally, I think it's still a win for Bangladesh, having taken the game as deep as they did and have done what they did today. But teams will never get better if your captain just goes, well done, girls, that was brilliant. You know, you've got to look to get better. And there were aspects of that game where they could get better. You know, they've had so many batters not score runs. they lost wickets throughout the middle

had they not had the batters towards the back end, score the amount of runs that they did then England would have been chasing 230. It would have been a totally different game. I'm not surprised she's a bit irritated actually because her team was on the verge of history there at 103 for 6 and at 78 for 5 she knew that they were really really competing

and a couple of things that have come to her mind I mean she was very diplomatic about what was irking her with her batters And it was actually, who's making the sign, turnover strike, turn over strike, get singles in the middle order. If it hadn't been for that 43 from Rambia, it would have been 145 that they were getting.

And it was, frankly, it was a bit limp at that point. And Ritu Mone was really, you know, how many balls was it, 36 for her five? It was something like that. And I think she was frustrated by that. I think in her interview there, you saw that she thought another 20 runs,

and if we've managed to just break that partnership, than they could have been there. And it's been a bit of a theme of this World Cup. If you think about how Sri Lanka played in the first game here against India, yeah, they lost by 50-odd runs. But if they'd caught Amundjot core, they could have been set 235, not 270. Because there was a massive mistake dropping Amundjot.

It was a pretty easy catch. And then they just needed a little bit more. They needed Atapatu to loss for another five or six overs. They could have got there. So what you're seeing is that these sides, We've talked about as the unfancy ones. We've kind of written all three of them off, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as contenders for the top four, but they are competitive.

And so it's quite right that their skippers should be a little bit irked because they can see where they need to get to. And Al's absolutely right. You're not going to get any better without reaching for the stars. You can't just go, oh, well, we're happy to have lost. Isn't it good to be here? But I think one of the other things that really came across in that partnership with Charlie Dean and something that Nat Silverbump

was talking about there. That situation was made for Charlie Dean. When we've seen her back well, it's been when you don't need to score runs quickly but you do need to be clever. She's got really good game smarts and needing three in a bit and over and hanging in with Heather Knight. It reminded me

a little bit of that famous knock at Lords where they didn't need to go at 6, 7 and over. The problem England have after number 7 is when they're trying to set a good target. So if they lose their sixth wicket, they're on 230, do they have the firepower? Is Charlie Dean a number eight that can get them up to 300? Well, today, that wasn't the issue. Charlie Dean's a really

competitive, really pugnacious cricketer, and she was basically the perfect person for that role. She didn't try and play any outlandish shots. She didn't swing for the hills at any point. I mean, she got 27 of 56, but the last ball was a four. She was 23 or 55, and she didn't bother her at all. It was the perfect innings for the circumstances. Which game has taught us more about this England side, Alex? The one which saw them romped a victory over

South Africa or the one that saw them laboring against Bangladesh. I think this one, to be honest with, yeah, I think you look back at this game and you go, finally, they've shown a bit of I don't know what to call it, but a bit of character, a bit of grit, a bit of determination, you know.

In the past we've seen them fall in a heap and I think Siver Brunt was saying that in an interview with NASS, then it's just like, okay, we've got over the line, we've found a way to win, it's a World Cup, and you have to find ways to win. And yes, that last wicket, that last partnership was key. However, it doesn't matter because that last partnership was key.

They've still done it. They've still got over the line. I think we've also discovered that they've got longstanding problems with a certain type of bowling that hasn't gone away. And this may not be an issue later down the line. You know, they've got two big games coming up. against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. No one should take it for granted

that they're going to get over the line of those games. We've got an improved Sri Lanka. Pakistan, you have to say, look, the weakest of the sides that have been on show so far. But if they can win those two games, it'll be totally different gravy when they go to Indoor. Those pitches are very different, and then it's going to be playing a bit more

into their strengths to see whether their top order can slug it out against India and Australia's top order. So, look, in these kind of circumstances on these kind of pitches, I think that those long-standing problems are still there and I don't see them going away. Dunkley Nauts Lamb 1. Middle order runs hard to come by today.

Can we read anything into that or just? No, Emma Lam's been a leading run scorer in the English domestic cricket and she's played five less games than everybody else. She's batting in a place where she's not used to and she's normally opening the batting, but she's batted in the middle for England in the warm game. scored an 80, scored a 70, absolutely not. I think, you know, it happens.

It's the problems against playing spin that come to mind. However, Emma Lam is one of the strongest, normally against playing spin. She was trying to take the game on, going down the ground, trying to find a boundary, getting caught on the inner ring. I think that's one of the dismissals where Charlotte Edwards would look back and go,

is it your strength, yes or no. If it is, then fine, if it's not, play it along the floor. For Dunkley, it was a great example today of who gets lucky and who doesn't. She was out to give an out LBW to a ball that was just clipping the stumps and off you go. Heather Knight, well, I mean, three lives. Three lives still there,

makes 79 as the hero. So I'm afraid those are the margins, that's cricket. And lots of people will look at the scorecard or they will do that thing that fans do. We go, well, you've got naught, so you failed. He must be rubbish. But, you know, Heather Knight could easily have got whatever it was when her first life was.

I think I had eight or something at the time and we would be talking about something very different today. In terms of England's spin attack, we know that they're very effective, we know that the likes of Sophie Eccleston, Lindsay Smith, Charlie Dean, are going to have a great time of it. Lauren Bell got another

opportunity today at top of the order. There was some decent deliveries, a little bit was erratic at times but overall England's performance in the field. Yeah, I'm happy with it. I think Lauren Bell was a little bit of licorice also. She didn't really pitch a ball in the same place two or three times in a row. I think she was a little bit everywhere to be completely honest with you. I think she's bowed better. I think she's had a

better time of it in the summer. Maybe she's feeling that extra bit of pressure of being the only seamer in the attack. Who knows? Maybe something's not quite clicking for her. Maybe the ball's swinging more than she thought it would. But it doesn't strike me as a problem necessarily for England. I think they've got a really good ball and attack when you look at the fact that you've got Eccleston, Smith and Dean, it's probably the best spin attack in this World Cup. Maybe Australia are up there as well. I also don't think that Nat Silverbrunt against other sides, top sides, is having two slips and no deep third.

So there were a few runs that went down there, some of them of imperfect shot. So her figures look a little bit worse than they otherwise would be because Nat Silverbrun's captaincy today was really impressive, I thought. You know, we've watched, I don't want to have a go at Heather Knight's captaincy. We've watched a lot of Heather Knight's captaincy, and it was quite repetitive. you know, she had a plan and she'd stick to it. Nat Simabunt's a little bit more dynamic, I'd say, in-game dynamism. She spotted some weaknesses in Bangladesh's middle order, and she stifled them.

She kept lots of players inside the ring. She only had one out, as I just mentioned there, with Lauren Bell, just one fielder out on the leg side, and then two slips in place saying, go on, I don't mind you, you're bowling out there, let them have a go at it. We've got catchers in there. It didn't work for her today for Lauren Bell. She leaked a few boundaries down a deep third, but it's the intent there,

and I really like it. It reminds me a little bit of how Harry Brooke has changed England's captaincy and the men's 50 overs as well, like thinking wickets is important and targeting batters to stifle. And it doesn't matter if you're out of the power play. That doesn't mean you automatically have to put four people out of the boundary. You can be a bit more flexible, and I think that is working well for England.

We mentioned one scene bowler in Lauren Bell, who maybe struggled a little bit at times. One bowler who did not is Marufor actor, 20 years old, and one of the most thrilling talents in the women's game. She was absolutely outstanding at the top of the order. Five overs, two for 28 does not tell the story of quite how effective she was. No, she bowled nicely, didn't she? I think she's a little bit erratic,

but when she gets it right, she's basically unplayable, but it's when she gets it wrong, she sprays it everywhere. But she's 20 years old, but her in swing is beautiful, isn't it? And she went off injured, but we've just had word that it was just cramp for our Marufa to shoot. No wonder Jotty, the captain is saying, I have no doubt, she'll be fine for the next game because she'd just gone off for cramp. But I think the way she challenged England with those big hooping in swingers is something for England to look at when they come to play the likes of Australia and Megan shoot. Because a few of the England girls were just falling over and falling over their front pad. So that is something for them to be mindful of.

Beaumont and Jones in particular with them getting out to Marufa. But yeah, she's an exceptional bowler, young bowler, but she's going to be a serious talent. Yeah, the LBW that she got Tammy Beaumont with is the perfect ball in actual fact because it hit her just in line with off stump and it was hitting just enough of leg stump. And that's a very difficult ball to play.

You've got to really get the strided. When you're Tammy Beaumont, you don't perhaps have that stride. So, no, you can't take it away from where she bowled terrific balls and her figures don't look quite as good because she bowled one over too many. and it went for three-fours and she lost a line and length in that fifth over, didn't she?

And then she went off for crap. So maybe she was feeling it in that over, I don't know. But you said she'd make an interesting signing for franchises. I think her stock is rising all the time. She's really gutsy. She gives something to the Bangladesh team in the field as well. It just lifts them all because they've got somebody. They've got a strike bowler.

And in both the men's and the women's game in Bangladesh, strike bowlers for Bangladesh have been quite hard to come by. So next stop for England, they head to Colombo, and they take on Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The weather is going to be as much of a question mark as to how they're going to go against those sides. But ultimately, it's two from two from Gooharty, and that's what they needed to do. They've done their job here at the start of the tournament, Alex. Absolutely. Tournament cricket is all about winning. It doesn't matter how you win the games, you've got to win them.

You know, it's a round robin. Everyone plays everybody in England have got off to the perfect start. Yes, they would have wanted to win a little bit more comfortably today. but they've managed to get over the line so they'll go to Colombo with a lot of confidence. Yeah, and they certainly should do. We'll get some stats from Philips just a moment, but Daniel, some final thoughts from you?

Yeah, I think Sri Lanka is going to be a really, really tough game for them, actually. I think Pakistan, if they can get out on the field and it doesn't rain, I think they'll be very, very confident of winning that game and winning it well, but I think Sri Lanka, especially after seeing what we saw from Bangladesh today, I don't think they should be taking that. remotely likely, that could be a real tough one. Phil Longar scorer. Day for you. What have you made of it?

Yeah, I'll be very quick. Let's just go through some details on that unbroken seventh wicket partnership, which in the end won the game for England. It was the highest partnership for any wicket for England v. Bangladesh. Not really surprised. It's only the second time they've met in ODIs. More importantly, it was the second highest seventh wicket partnership for England at a World Cup. The highest four was, is 85 by Jenny Gunn and Catherine Thubund when England beat Australia in 2017. It is the highest partnership for the seventh wicket and below for any team in the World Cup that was unbeaten, therefore, to win a game.

And England's highest unbeaten seventh wicket partnership, this is quite interesting. It's still 130 for England versus New Zealand in 2024 between Amy Jones and Charlie D. Well, our thanks to Phil, to Alex, to Daniel. That's it for this episode of the Test Match Special podcast. Make sure you'll subscribe, so you never miss an episode, including no balls with Kate Cross and Alex Hartley

as well as Stumped with Alison Mitchell from the World Service she's been out in India during this Women's World Cup and loads of fascinating content from Ali and the Stumped team so England next in action on Saturday against Sri Lanka in Colombo 1015 Saturday morning BBC sounds and five sports extra for that and you can keep up to date with all things cricket by following at BBC TMS on X and at BBC Cricket on Instagram.

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