Tigresses vow not to ‘back down’ against England

Taking confidence from their win over Scotland in the opener, Bangladesh will take on England, the champions of the inaugural ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2009, in their second Group B encounter at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today.

Nigar Sultana Joty's side started their campaign on a high, beating Scotland by 16 runs on Thursday at the same ground, courtesy of a well-rounded bowling effort -- the main area of strength for the Tigresses.

The victory brought an end to a 16-match winless streak in Women's T20 World Cups for Bangladesh that started in 2014.

With the confidence of a win in the tournament opener, Bangladesh should be better settled but the proposition of facing a top side such as England can be daunting.

The two sides have met thrice in the major event and England have stormed past the Tigresses in all three meetings -- at home in 2014 before suffering defeats in 2016 and 2018.

Despite the significant mismatch, Bangladesh seamer Ritu Moni -- player of the match against Scotland for her figures of two for 15 -- said the Tigresses won't be fazed when they face the number two ranked side in T20Is.

"They are a good side, one of the best but we will not back down," Ritu said in a video message after an optional training session in Sharjah yesterday. "I always try to bowl economically regardless of the quality of the opponent. I try to bowl dots in training and will try the same in the match."

While the bowling has largely been stable, batting has been a perennial concern for the Tigresses. In their first match, Bangladesh failed to capitalise on a solid top-order start as the middle-order misfired and lost impetus to propel their side to a bigger total.

Top-order batter Sobhana Mostary, who scored a team-high 38-ball 36 against Scotland, acknowledged the untimely manner of her dismissal as it made it difficult for new batters to up the ante later in the innings.

"I would've been happier if I contributed more for the team. I got out at a very bad time and couldn't get to my half-century. If I was there for longer, perhaps the total could've been 125 instead of 120 [119 for seven]," Sobhana said yesterday.

"We haven't played much against England but we played very well against them in the ODI World Cup. The bowling unit did very well then.

"The wicket in Sharjah is slow but the ball comes onto the bat well. The outfield, however, is very slow. We missed out on five or six boundaries in the previous match due to the slowness. The dimensions on a couple of sides are as big as 72 metres. So, we're adjusting to that. It was very hot in the day game."