Big picture – a rare meeting
The sentence itself is an event. Despite qualifying for back-to-back ODI World Cups – in 2022 and now in 2025 – Bangladesh have faced England only once in the format, and that too in the previous edition.
“This is the stage where we show our capabilities so that teams like England and Australia show interest in playing against us,” Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said on match eve.
As per the new future tours programme which will run from 2025-29, Bangladesh are scheduled to tour England for three ODIs and as many T20Is in September 2027. That is perhaps when the fixture will stop being an event.
On the field, both teams are coming on the back of comfortable wins. England’s multi-pronged attack could pose a tough challenge for Bangladesh, whose batters often struggle to force the pace. Conversely, if the track assists spin, Bangladesh’s spin-heavy attack led by Nahida Akter could be more than just a handful for England. Their batters were hardly challenged in the opening game.
Form guide
England WLWLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh WLLWW
In the spotlight: Lamb and Marufa
Team news
Given England’s line-up was hardly tested against South Africa, expect them to go in with an unchanged XI.
England (probable XI): 1 Tammy Beaumont, 2 Amy Jones (wk), 3 Heather Knight, 4 Nat Sciver-Brunt (capt), 5 Sophia Dunkley, 6 Emma Lamb, 7 Alice Capsey, 8 Charlie Dean, 9 Sophie Ecclestone, 10 Linsey Smith, 11 Lauren Bell
Against England’s right-hand heavy line-up, Bangladesh could look to play left-arm spinner Sanjida Akter Meghla for an offspinner in Nishita Akter Nishi.
Bangladesh (probable xi): 1 Fargana Hoque, 2 Rubya Haider, 3 Sharmin Akhter, 4 Nigar Sultana (CAPT & WK), 5 Sobhana Mostary, 6 Shorna Akter, 7 Fahima Khatun, 8 Nahida Akter, 9 Rabeya Khana Akter, 11 Nishita Akter Nishi/Sanjida Akter Meghla
Pitch and conditions
A fresh pitch will be used for the game. But it may not behave too differently from the first two tracks. Both the pitches assisted spin as the afternoon wore on but against fast bowling, the ball came nicely onto the bat.
As for the weather, there is slight chance of rain. There was rain predicted for the England-South Africa game on Monday, but it stayed dry, while Bangladesh were forced indoors two days before this match due to an unexpected shower.
Stats and trivia
- Bangladesh’s only ODI against England came at the previous World Cup.
- Only Fargana Hoque, Fahima Khatun and Ritu Moni from the current Bangladesh squad have played an ODI in India before.
- England’s win/loss ratio of 1.0 in 2025, their worst in a calendar year since 2007. They have won three games against West Indies, one each against India and South Africa.
- England will play their 94th ODI World Cup game to be on par with Australia for the joint-most.
Quotes
“With sub-continent conditions comes the offer of extra spin. So, [I am] trying to really make sure that you’re hitting with the spin and going through all your different options. I’ve been sweeping quite a lot, reverse sweeping, which is something that I might not get out in a game straight away, but it’s something that I’ve put a lot of hours into to make sure that when I do, hopefully it goes well.”
Charlie Dean on the tweaks to her batting
“We have a lot of information on them because of our analysts. We want to play our “A” game and don’t want to go by just names. We will try to make lesser mistakes and take confidence from the win over Pakistan.”
Nigar sulta on playing against England
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Sudarshanan7
