The Lankan team overcomes the Bangladeshi side to maintain their tournament hopes ongoing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs margin

Sri Lanka took four crucial dismissals in the last innings segment to achieve a heart-stopping victory over their opponents and maintain their narrow hopes of qualifying for the tournament knockout stage ongoing.

Pursuing a attainable total of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team required nine runs from the last six bowls.

However, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu took three wickets in four balls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to achieve a thrilling success for Sri Lanka.

The triumph – the Lankan team's initial of the competition after three losses and two washed-out matches against the Australian team and the Kiwi side – elevates them equal on four match points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who face each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, in contrast, endured a fifth consecutive setback since securing victory in their first match against Pakistan and have been eliminated.

Although the Bangladeshi side made the perfect start, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the initial ball of the encounter to send back Gunaratne, they were rightfully made to pay for a subpar fielding effort.

They provided lifelines to Hasini Perera, who was missed on three occasions, and Athapaththu.

Even though Athapaththu could not make it count, dismissed leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being missed by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced the opposition regret it.

She scored a first international fifty, scoring 85 from 99 bowls and sharing an crucial 74-run fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.

Bangladesh, spearheaded by Shorna's 3-27, fought themselves back into the game, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th innings segment triggering a Lankan downfall from 174-4 to 202 all out.

While batting second, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Malki Madara and Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 with one wicket down in a lacklustre powerplay and they were later brought down to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty rebuilt their score, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket collaboration before Sharmin left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was advantage the chasing team entering the last two innings segments, with just 12 runs needed.

Yet, Dasanayaka removed Ritu and allowed only three runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all dismissed as the Lankan team snatched the victory at the death.

Finally, it was a match of nerve. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who moved aside a several of team-mates as she got ready to deliver the last over, maintained her composure. The opposition failed to.

There will be numerous questions about the team's batting effort. They possibly have been chasing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team appearing at ease on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th bowling phase, but rather the chase was considerably smaller.

However, the batting side lacked intent from the start, making runs at less than 2.5 scoring rate during the powerplay, undergoing a initial wicket loss, and ultimately leaving themselves excessive to accomplish.

But whatever problems there are with their batting lineup, if they had taken their chances in the fielding department, that 203-run target target would have been significantly less.

It needed them three attempts to break the 72-run stand second-wicket, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana not managing to grab a tough catch while keeping to send back Hasini Perera on 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled opportunity against Rabeya.

Perera was dropped further on her score of 55 and her score of 63, the latter chance traveling straight to Jhilik at cover position, before eventually being trapped leg before wicket by Shorna as she attempted to accelerate the scoring with teammates falling beside her.

Subsequently in the game, there was additionally a stumping chance missed and a run-out opportunity lost, although the second one was a little unlucky, with Rubya Haider standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves after an fitness issue to the regular keeper.

Unfortunately for the team, such fielding issues are far from a isolated incident. They've missed 14 chances from a available 27 at this World Cup and display the lowest catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are overall moving in the correct path – they are participating in merely their second one-day World Cup after all – but substandard fielding performance is a prominent problem which requires focus.