Sri Lanka defeats Bangladesh to preserve their World Cup campaign alive

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

Sri Lanka 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini Perera 85 (99); Shorna Akter 3-27

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs

Sri Lanka secured four wickets in the last over to complete a nail-biting triumph over their opponents and keep their slim hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Chasing a attainable score of 203 on a good batting surface in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh wanted nine additional runs from the last six bowls.

Yet, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu secured three crucial wickets in four bowls and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to secure a exciting win for the Lankan team.

The triumph – Sri Lanka's first of the competition after three unsuccessful matches and two washed-out matches against Australia and the Kiwi side – elevates them level on four tournament points with India and New Zealand, who face each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, however, experienced a fifth consecutive setback since winning their tournament opener against Pakistan and have been eliminated.

Although the Bangladeshi side got off to the excellent commencement, with Marufa taking a wicket with the initial ball of the encounter to dismiss Gunaratne, they were deservedly made to pay for a disappointing fielding performance.

They offered reprieves to Perera, who was dropped multiple times, and Athapaththu.

While Athapaththu failed to make it count, sent back leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made the opposition pay.

She achieved a maiden international half-century, scoring 85 from 99 deliveries and sharing an crucial 74-run stand fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.

Bangladesh, guided by Shorna Akter's impressive bowling figures, pulled themselves back in the game, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th over causing a Lankan downfall from 174-4 to 202 all out.

While batting second, Sri Lanka's starting bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited the opposition to 23-1 in a uninspiring powerplay and they were subsequently diminished to 44-3.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty rebuilt their batting effort, putting on 82 runs for the fourth wicket stand before the batter withdrew due to injury for a determined 64 in the 36th over.

It was in favor of the chasing team approaching the remaining two overs, with merely 12 runs necessary.

Nevertheless, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu and gave away just three scoring runs before Athapaththu's chaos, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa all removed as the Lankan team grabbed the win at the final moment.

Finally, it was a contest of nerves. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who directed away a handful of teammates as she set herself to deliver the decisive over, kept her composure. The opposition failed to.

There will be plenty of inquiries about the team's batting display. They might well have been needing around 270-280 with the Lankan team looking at ease on 159 for four in the 30th over, but instead the required total was much lower.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh lacked aggression from ball one, accumulating runs at under 2.5 runs per over during the opening overs, undergoing a initial wicket loss, and eventually leaving themselves overwhelming to achieve.

But no matter what difficulties there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their chances in the fielding department, that 203-run target objective would have been significantly less.

It required them three attempts to break the 72-run second-wicket, with keeper Joty being unable to take a difficult opportunity while keeping to send back Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu got a reprieve from a return catch possibility against Rabeya.

Perera was spilled further on 55 runs and her score of 63, the latter chance going right to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover field, before eventually being given out lbw by Shorna as she sought to increase the tempo with partners falling around her.

Later in the game, there was also a missed stumping and a run-out opportunity lost, while the second one was a little unlucky, with Rubya Haider standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves following an fitness issue to the regular keeper.

Regrettably for the team, such fielding problems are not at all a single occurrence. They've missed 14 opportunities from a potential 27 at this competition and have the lowest catch efficiency (48.1 percent) of the participating teams.

They are a side who are overall moving in the proper way – they are participating in only their second one-day World Cup in the end – but poor fielding is a obvious concern which needs attention.