Sri Lanka beats the Bangladeshi side to maintain their World Cup campaign ongoing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Mumbai

The Lankan team 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27

Bangladesh 195-9 (50 overs): Nigar Sultana Joty 77 (98); Athapaththu 4-42

Sri Lanka emerge victorious by seven runs margin

Sri Lanka took four wickets in the decisive innings segment to seal a thrilling triumph over their opponents and keep their narrow hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals alive.

Pursuing a modest total of 203 on a good batting surface in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team required nine runs from the remaining six deliveries.

However, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu secured three crucial wickets in four balls and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to achieve a exciting victory for Sri Lanka.

The win – Sri Lanka's initial of the competition after three defeats and two abandoned games against the Australian team and the Kiwi side – pushes them equal on four match points with the Indian team and New Zealand, who confront each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, however, endured a fifth consecutive loss since securing victory in their tournament opener against the Pakistani team and have been removed from contention.

While the Bangladeshi side made the ideal beginning, with Marufa taking a wicket with the initial ball of the game to dismiss Gunaratne, they were deservedly punished for a subpar fielding display.

They offered reprieves to Perera, who was dropped on three occasions, and Athapaththu.

While the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to make it count, sent back leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being put down by Rabeya, Hasini Perera forced the opposition regret it.

She registered a maiden international half-century, accumulating 85 from 99 balls and building an important 74-run partnership fifth-wicket collaboration with De Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna's impressive bowling figures, pulled themselves back to the contest, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th over causing a Lankan collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 total.

During their chase, Sri Lanka's initial pace attack Malki Madara and Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23 with one wicket down in a uninspiring opening overs and they were subsequently diminished to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty restored their score, contributing 82 for the fourth wicket collaboration before the batter withdrew due to injury for a determined 64 in the 36th over.

It was advantage Bangladesh approaching the final two innings segments, with just 12 more runs necessary.

However, Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and conceded just three runs before Athapaththu's chaos, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as Sri Lanka snatched the victory at the death.

Finally, it was a game of composure. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who ushered away a several of team-mates as she got ready to deliver the last over, held her composure. Bangladesh did not.

There will be many inquiries about the team's batting display. They possibly have been pursuing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka looking at ease on 159 for four in the 30th bowling phase, but in contrast the chase was significantly less.

Yet, the batting side displayed insufficient purpose from the start, accumulating runs at under 2.5 scoring rate during the powerplay, undergoing a top-order collapse, and eventually making themselves excessive to accomplish.

But no matter what problems there are with their batting lineup, if they had seized their catches in the fielding area, that 203-run objective would have been significantly smaller.

It took them three efforts to terminate the 72-run second-wicket association, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to take a difficult opportunity as wicketkeeper to remove Perera on 23 runs before the captain got a reprieve from a return catch opportunity against Rabeya.

The batter was missed again on 55 and 63, the latter chance traveling directly to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna as she sought to accelerate the scoring with partners being dismissed near her.

Later in the game, there was furthermore a stumping chance missed and a failed run-out, even though the run-out chance was a slightly regrettable, with Jhilik deputising with the wicketkeeping gloves after an physical problem to Joty.

Sadly for the team, such fielding issues are not at all a isolated incident. They've failed to catch 14 catches from a potential 27 opportunities at this World Cup and display the worst catch efficiency (48.1%) of the eight teams.

They are a squad who are typically moving in the correct path – they are competing in merely their second ODI World Cup ultimately – but inadequate fielding performance is a obvious problem which requires improvement.