Sri Lanka defeats the Bangladeshi side to preserve their campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, 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); Chamari Athapaththu 4-42

Sri Lanka win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team secured four wickets in the final innings segment to complete a nail-biting victory over Bangladesh and preserve their narrow chances of qualifying for the tournament knockout stage ongoing.

Chasing a below-par score of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh required nine more runs from the final six bowls.

Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Athapaththu claimed three wickets in four bowls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to secure a thrilling success for Sri Lanka.

The victory – Sri Lanka's maiden of the World Cup after three unsuccessful matches and two abandoned games against the Australian team and the Kiwi side – pushes them equal on four points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who meet each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, on the other hand, endured a fifth straight loss since securing victory in their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Even though the Bangladeshi side got off to the excellent commencement, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the first delivery of the game to send back Vishmi Gunaratne, they were deservedly penalized for a subpar fielding performance.

They gifted second chances to Hasini Perera, who was missed on three occasions, and Athapaththu.

Although Athapaththu could not make it count, removed leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya Khan, Hasini Perera forced Bangladesh suffer.

She achieved a debut international half-century, making 85 from 99 bowls and sharing an crucial 74-run fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.

Bangladesh, led by Shorna's 3-27, fought themselves back in the contest, with Nilakshi's removal in the 34th over triggering a Sri Lanka downfall from 174-4 to 202 complete.

In reply, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23-1 in a uninspiring powerplay and they were afterwards reduced to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin Akter and Joty restored their score, putting on an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket stand before the batter left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was leaning toward the chasing team entering the last two innings segments, with only 12 additional runs required.

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and allowed merely three scoring runs before Athapaththu's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all dismissed as the Lankan team snatched the win at the death.

In the end, it was a game of nerves. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who moved aside a handful of fellow players as she got ready to deliver the final over, held her nerve. The opposition failed to.

There will be many inquiries about the team's batting performance. They might well have been pursuing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka looking at ease on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but in contrast the required total was significantly less.

Yet, Bangladesh lacked intent from the start, scoring at less than 2.5 runs per over during the initial phase, suffering a early batting collapse, and finally making themselves overwhelming to do.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting lineup, if they had seized their chances in the fielding department, that 203 total target would have been considerably smaller.

It needed them three efforts to end the 72-run second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Joty being unable to hold a tough catch as wicketkeeper to send back Hasini Perera on 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled possibility against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was spilled once more on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the latter chance going right to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being given out leg before wicket by Shorna as she sought to up the ante with batting partners being dismissed around her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was additionally a stumping chance missed and a failed run-out, while the run-out chance was a little unlucky, with Jhilik deputising with the keeping duties after an fitness issue to the regular keeper.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are not at all a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 opportunities from a available 27 chances at this tournament and have the lowest catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the competing sides.

They are a squad who are generally heading in the proper way – they are participating in merely their second ODI World Cup in the end – but poor fielding is a obvious issue which needs attention.