Sri Lanka beats Bangladesh to keep their World Cup tournament hopes ongoing

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team took four crucial dismissals in the decisive over to achieve a thrilling triumph over Bangladesh and preserve their narrow hopes of making it for the tournament knockout stage alive.

Pursuing a below-par total of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh wanted nine runs from the remaining six balls.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu claimed three crucial wickets in four balls and de Silva ran out Nahida Akter to achieve a dramatic success for the Lankan team.

The triumph – the Lankan team's initial of the tournament after three losses and two no-results against the Australian team and New Zealand – elevates them equal on four points with India and New Zealand, who confront each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, in contrast, endured a fifth straight defeat since securing victory in their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been knocked out.

Although Bangladesh got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa striking with the initial ball of the match to dismiss Gunaratne, they were rightfully penalized for a disappointing fielding performance.

They gifted reprieves to Perera, who was missed three times, and Athapaththu.

Even though Athapaththu could not capitalise, sent back leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya, Hasini Perera forced the opposition suffer.

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

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna Akter's three wickets for 27 runs, fought themselves back into the contest, with Nilakshi's wicket in the 34th innings segment causing a Sri Lanka batting collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 total.

While batting second, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Madara and Prabodhani restricted the opposition to 23-1 in a lacklustre initial phase and they were later brought down to 44-3.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty restored their batting effort, contributing 82 runs for the fourth wicket before the batter withdrew due to injury for a determined 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was leaning toward Bangladesh heading into the last two overs, with just 12 runs required.

Nevertheless, Dasanayaka sent back Ritu and gave away only three runs before Athapaththu's chaos, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa all dismissed as Sri Lanka seized the victory at the final moment.

Ultimately, it was a game of nerves. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who moved aside a handful of fellow players as she prepared to bowl the final over, maintained her nerve. The opposition could not.

There will be plenty of inquiries about Bangladesh's batting performance. They might well have been chasing around 270-280 with the Lankan team appearing settled on 159 for four in the 30th innings segment, but instead the required total was significantly less.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh lacked purpose from the very beginning, scoring at below 2.5 runs per over during the powerplay, suffering a early batting collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves excessive to accomplish.

But whatever issues there are with their batting, if they had seized their catches in the fielding department, that 203-run target target would have been significantly lower.

It required them three efforts to end the 72-run second-wicket association, with wicketkeeper Joty not managing to hold a tough opportunity as wicketkeeper to remove Perera on her score of 23 before Athapaththu got a reprieve from a caught and bowled chance possibility against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was missed further on 55 and 63 runs, the latter chance going straight to Jhilik at cover, before ultimately being trapped lbw by Shorna Akter as she sought to accelerate the scoring with batting partners falling near her.

Afterwards in the innings, there was also a missed stumping and a failed run-out, although the run-out chance was a slightly unfortunate, with Rubya Haider standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves due to an fitness issue to Joty.

Regrettably for the team, such fielding issues are far from a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 opportunities from a available 27 opportunities at this tournament and boast the worst fielding effectiveness (48.1 percent) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are overall progressing in the correct path – they are participating in just their second one-day World Cup in the end – but substandard fielding performance is a prominent problem which demands focus.