Sri Lanka defeats the Bangladeshi side to keep their World Cup campaign ongoing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team claimed four crucial dismissals in the final innings segment to complete a nail-biting victory over their opponents and preserve their narrow aspirations of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals alive.

Needing a modest total of 203 on a favorable wicket in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh required nine additional runs from the final six balls.

However, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu secured three wickets in four balls and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to achieve a exciting win for the Lankan team.

The triumph – the Lankan team's first of the World Cup after three unsuccessful matches and two abandoned games against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them tied on four tournament points with the Indian team and New Zealand, who confront each other on the coming Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, however, suffered a fifth consecutive defeat since securing victory in their tournament opener against the Pakistani team and have been removed from contention.

Although Bangladesh got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa taking a wicket with the initial ball of the game to send back Gunaratne, they were deservedly made to pay for a poor fielding performance.

They provided second chances to Perera, who was dropped multiple times, and the Lankan captain.

While Athapaththu was unable to make it count, removed leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being dropped by Rabeya, Hasini Perera forced the opposition pay.

She scored a first international half-century, scoring 85 from 99 bowls and contributing to an important 74-run fifth-wicket association with De Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, spearheaded by Shorna Akter's impressive bowling figures, pulled themselves back to the contest, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th innings segment initiating a Lankan batting collapse from 174 for four to 202 all out.

In reply, the Lankan team's initial pace attack Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited Bangladesh to 23 for one in a uninspiring powerplay and they were afterwards brought down to 44-3.

Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their score, putting on 82 runs for the fourth wicket collaboration before Sharmin left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was in favor of the chasing team entering the last two bowling phases, with merely 12 additional runs needed.

Yet, Dasanayaka sent back Ritu and conceded merely three runs before Athapaththu's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa all sent back as Sri Lanka grabbed the win at the death.

In the end, it was a game of nerve. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who ushered away a few of team-mates as she prepared to bowl the last over, held her nerve. Bangladesh did not.

There will be numerous questions about Bangladesh's batting performance. They might well have been needing 270 to 280 with the Lankan team seeming comfortable on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th innings segment, but instead the target was significantly less.

However, the batting side displayed insufficient purpose from the start, accumulating runs at below 2.5 runs per over during the initial phase, suffering a initial wicket loss, and ultimately leaving themselves too much to achieve.

But whatever problems there are with their batting, if they had accepted their catches in the field, that 203-run target would have been considerably less.

It required them three tries to terminate the 72-run second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana failing to grab a challenging opportunity while keeping to dismiss Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled possibility against Rabeya.

The batter was dropped once more on 55 and her score of 63, the last attempt going straight to Jhilik at cover, before eventually being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she attempted to accelerate the scoring with partners getting out beside her.

Afterwards in the batting effort, there was furthermore a stumping chance missed and a missed run-out, although the latter was a slightly unlucky, with Rubya Haider standing in with the gloves due to an injury to the regular keeper.

Regrettably for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are nowhere near a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 catches from a potential 27 opportunities at this World Cup and display the worst catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a side who are generally progressing in the proper way – they are participating in merely their second 50-over World Cup in the end – but inadequate fielding performance is a glaring problem which needs attention.