Sharjah, Oct 6 (IANS): On a day when spinners ruled the roost, England’s four-pronged spin attack combined to defeat Bangladesh by 21 runs in a low-scoring match and make a winning start in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 at the Sharjah International Cricket Stadium here on Saturday. The Group B favourites picked all four of their leading spinners, and the quartet were put to work after England could only set a target of 119 with a batting effort that fizzled out after a 48-run first-wicket stand. Bangladesh closed on 97/7, still 21 runs short of their target.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge top scored with 41 for England, but it was the Bangladesh bowlers who shone as evening turned into night in Sharjah, with Ritu Moni, Fahima Khatun and Nahida Akter picking up two wickets apiece in an excellent team effort.

The ball continued to dominate during Bangladesh’s chase, with only Sobhana Mostary showing any fluency with a knock of 44 that made England sweat a little, the ICC reports.

Linsey Smith was the stand-out bowler, taking 2-11 from her four overs, while Charlie Dean 2-22, Sarah Glenn 1-22 and Sophie Ecclestone all contributed to limit the scoring, as England sent down 16 overs of spin in the innings.

Charlie Dean and Linsey Smith removed openers Dilara Akter (6 from 12) and Shathi Rani (7 from 9) in a slow start, and a recovery partnership between Sobhana Mostary and Nigar Sultana left the Tigresses on 42/2 at the midway point of their chase, needing to up the scoring rate but with plenty of wickets still in hand against the favourites to qualify from the group.

But the spin brilliance of England strangled the scoring rate, leaving too much for Bangladesh’s middle order to do. Mostary gave it her best shot, rotating the strike superbly in her 48-ball 44. But England’s spinners picked up wickets frequently enough to deny any momentum in the chase.

Glenn, Smith and Nat Sciver-Brunt picked up a wicket apiece to keep England on top, and the game was effectively done when Dean trapped Mostary in front with nine balls remaining.

Earlier, England’s openers made a strong start after Heather Knight’s World Cup started with the correct call at the toss as England chose to bat first in the evening game. Maia Bouchier and Danni Wyatt-Hodge played through the powerplay scoring at a rate that few teams have looked capable of doing on the Sharjah surface, with the score at 48/1 when Bouchier was caught for 23 (18).

But Bouchier’s wicket prompted a slow-down as Bangladesh got themselves into the game, prizing out the key scalps of Nat Sciver-Brunt (2) and Heather Knight (6) – the latter cleaned up by a beauty from Ritu Moni. Wyatt-Hodge’s sparkling knock ended short of a half-century as she was stumped for 41 off Nahida Akter and Alice Capsey struggled to get going in an innings of 9 (17), leaving England needing their lower middle order to boost the total to one they’d have been hoping for after opting to bat first.

Fahima Khatun returned outstanding figures of 2-18 from her four overs. Rabeya Khan played a big part in England’s slowdown, with 1-15 from her four, but the batters weren't quite able to complete the job in the second innings.

Bangladesh will now turn their focus towards a crucial clash with West Indies in their next match on Thursday, while England make a return to action on Monday against South Africa.

Brief scores:

England 118/7 in 20 overs (Danni Wyatt-Hodge 41, Maia Bouchier 23; Fahima Khatun 2-18, Ritu Moni 2-24, Nahida Akter 2-32) beat Bangladesh 97/7 in 20 overs (Sobhana Mostary 44; Linsey Smith 2-11, Charlie Dean 2-22) by 21 runs.