Guwahati, Oct 7 (IANS) England won the toss and elected to field first against Bangladesh in the eighth match of the ICC Women’s World Cup here at the Baraspara Stadium.

While England have fielded the same playing eleven as of the last match, Bangladesh have made two changes in their eleven. Ritu Moni and Sanjida Akter Meghla replace Fargana Hoque and Nishita Akter Nishi.

England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt said, “I suppose we had a lot of success, so everyone’s pretty confident after that (first game). Obviously we don’t expect that to happen all the time. We start fresh today and we’re really looking to make the most of it all. It’s (preparation) been really good. We want to rest enough for the game. I’m prepared in any way that we would be typically for a game. We’d like to start fresh, I suppose. We’re making sure that the practice is as purposeful as possible. Linsey Smith, an absolute superstar. All the bowlers did very, very well. Everyone picking up wickets, Smith in the powerplay really got us off to an amazing start. Really relishing the conditions. To use her strength was the most important thing. She hit her area really well.”

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana said, “We would have batted first. It (win v Pakistan) gives us a good confidence that we are moving forward in the tournament. Yeah, definitely (improved batting). Because we’ve been looking forward to seeing our batting unit perform. So it happened in the last game. Seeing the young players coming up for the team and playing their best in the tournament, it’s good to see that there are a lot of top players in the team.”

Playing XIs

England Women: Tammy Beaumont, Amy Jones(w), Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt (c), Sophia Dunkley, Emma Lamb, Alice Capsey, Charlotte Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith, Lauren Bell

Bangladesh Women: Rubya Haider, Sharmin Akhter, Nigar Sultana(w/c), Sobhana Mostary, Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Fahima Khatun, Nahida Akter, Rabeya Khan, Marufa Akter, Shanjida Akter Meghla

–IANS

hs/bc