SPORTS REPORTER

Bangladesh will take on India in Manchester on Thursday, knowing that only a win will suffice to keep their Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final hopes alive, while India also require a victory to remain in the hunt for a last-four spot.

Three teams are currently vying for the second qualifying position in Group 1, with India, South Africa, and Bangladesh sitting second, third, and fourth in the standings respectively, all level on four points. Australia lead the group comfortably with eight points.

Bangladesh batter Sobhana Mostary insisted that they will push India all the way, drawing confidence from their recent home bilateral series against their neighbours.

“India are a strong side, but when we played them in our home bilateral series, we competed well,” Mostary said at the press conference yesterday.

“We always try our hardest to push them, and after the win against Pakistan, the team is in a good mental space. So, I feel we just want to play to our strengths.”

India possess a far superior net run-rate compared to South Africa and Bangladesh, meaning Nigar Sultana’s side will not only need to win their remaining two matches but do so by considerable margins.

“We are focusing on our batting because the conditions are quite different here. We have to adapt quickly, given that our batting crumbled in two of the matches,” she concluded.

The match is scheduled to start at 7:30 pm Bangladesh Time.