England captain Heather Knight survived multiple close calls, including a debated catch decision, to guide her team to a four-wicket win over Bangladesh in the 2025 Women’s World Cup match in Guwahati.
Controversial Catch Sparks Debate
The main controversy unfolded in the 15th over of England’s chase of 179, when Knight chipped a delivery from Fahima Khatun toward cover. Fielder Shorna Akter dived forward and appeared to take a low catch. Knight started to walk off, assuming she was dismissed, but the on-field umpires referred it to the third umpire, Gayathri Venugopalan.
After reviewing the footage, the TV umpire ruled Knight not out, stating that Shorna didn’t have her fingers completely under the ball. Knight, who was on 13 at the time, went on to play a match-winning knock of 79 off 111 balls*, sealing victory with 23 balls remaining.
“𝑨𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕,” 𝑲𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒐𝒇𝒇. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝑽 𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒆. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚 — 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝑰 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅.”
Bangladesh Left Frustrated
Bangladesh’s star spinner Fahima Khatun, who bagged 3 for 16, expressed her disappointment at the overturned decision.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝑭𝒂𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕.”
Knight’s Fortunate Innings
Knight’s innings was full of drama — she survived three dismissals in total. On the first ball she faced, she was ruled out caught behind, only for the DRS to show the ball brushed her pad instead. In the seventh over, she was given lbw, but another review saved her, revealing the ball would have bounced over the stumps.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎,” 𝑲𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝑹𝑺 — 𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆.”
With her composed innings under pressure, Knight not only carried England home but also marked her successful return from a hamstring injury, showing grit and a bit of fortune when her team needed it most.
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