England are up and running in the T20 World Cup – but not without having their “cage rattled” by the tigers of Bangladesh.

In the end, it was actually a rather comfortable 21-run victory – but that was to be expected since their opponents have only ever won three World Cup matches in their history.

But England were, not for the first time, bailed out by their supreme spin attack after their batters – so keen to be on the front foot – misfired.

So what did we learn from England’s opening match – and what can they do better?

The Sharjah pitch was slow and sluggish, which did not lend itself to England’s much-stated desire for aggression.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge set the standard in a lone effort of 41 from 40 balls. It actually took England 3.3 overs to hit their first boundary but the opener was rewarded for her patience, manipulating the ball around off the spinners and running well between the wickets with partner Maia Bouchier in an opening stand of 48.

But from there – and perhaps in England’s desire to hit the gas – they stalled, appearing tentative or reckless with little in between.

Bangladesh’s spinners twirled away with a nagging accuracy, with only 40 runs scored between overs 7-15 for the loss of four wickets on England’s way to posting 118-7 – a total described as ‘par’ after the match by captain Heather Knight.

“To say 118 against Bangladesh is par is not the sort language I want to hear,” said former England bowler Katherine Sciver-Brunt on BBC Test Match Special.

“Yes, it’s par for the pitch and we’ve seen that so far but no, not for this opposition. They need to add a bit more intent to their batting – it was quite frustrating to watch because we know what they are capable of.

“Bangladesh have rattled the cage and have hopefully given England a bit of a wake-up call.”

The World Cup format is unforgiving with the top two from the group stage going straight into the semi-finals, and while it may appear harsh to read so deeply into England’s batting after just one performance, there is little time for them to put it right. Any further misstep could be fatal to their title hopes.

Fortunately for them, they have an advantage over their next opponents South Africa, who have not yet played at Sharjah where the pitch has been slower and more bowler-friendly than the tournament’s other venue in Dubai.

The concern for England is that their problems against spin are not new and this World Cup already looks like it is going to be a trial by slow bowling.

The gameplan for bowlers in Sharjah is pretty simple: bowl slow and bowl straight. Across both games at the ground on Saturday, only 61 runs were scored from 93 balls that would have hit the stumps, with seven wickets falling.

The solution to overcoming such tactics is one England will probably not enjoy hearing – copy an Australian!

Saturday was also the defending champions’ first outing and they suffered a stutter of their own, losing four wickets while chasing just 94.

However, opener Beth Mooney delivered a masterclass in adapting to the conditions – staying patient, but getting the job done.

Mooney struck four fours in her unbeaten 43 but was proactive against Sri Lanka’s bowlers, scoring 21 from just nine balls when using her feet and ensuring Australia never got bogged down – they had a dot-ball percentage of 37% compared to England’s 46%.

Australia also ran nine twos in the oppressive 36 degree heat of the afternoon sun, compared to England’s six from 10 fewer deliveries against spin.

Mooney, drenched in sweat and wearing an ice pack on her neck at each break in play, demonstrated impressive fitness levels in the scorching heat. Precision of shot prevailed over power.

Knight noted in her post-match interview that “it won’t always be beautiful or sexy”. Mooney showed just that.

In contrast, England were uncertain about whether to stick or twist, with wickets falling from miscued reverse sweeps, a couple of charges down the pitch and two stumpings.

There is no need to panic but this was an unconvincing opening effort by England.

If they are to dethrone the serial winners from down under, who have won six of the last seven iterations of this competition, they need to channel their inner Australia – no matter how much it stings.