Sri Lanka beats the Bangladeshi side to maintain their World Cup campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs

Sri Lanka claimed four wickets in the final over to achieve a heart-stopping victory over Bangladesh and preserve their faint hopes of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals alive.

Needing a attainable target of 203 on a favorable wicket in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh wanted nine additional runs from the last six bowls.

Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu secured three crucial wickets in four bowls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to bring about a dramatic win for Sri Lanka.

The triumph – the Lankan team's initial of the tournament after three unsuccessful matches and two washed-out matches against Australia and New Zealand – pushes them equal on four points with India and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, however, experienced a fifth successive setback since securing victory in their initial game against Pakistan and have been removed from contention.

While Bangladesh got off to the perfect start, with Marufa taking a wicket with the opening bowl of the match to remove Gunaratne, they were rightfully made to pay for a disappointing fielding display.

They gifted second chances to Hasini Perera, who was spilled on three occasions, and the Lankan captain.

While Athapaththu failed to make it count, sent back leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being dropped by Rabeya, Perera made Bangladesh suffer.

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

Bangladesh, guided by Shorna's three wickets for 27 runs, pulled themselves back into the match, with De Silva's dismissal in the 34th over causing a Sri Lanka downfall from 174 for four to 202 total.

In reply, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 with one wicket down in a disappointing opening overs and they were subsequently reduced to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin and Joty reconstructed their batting effort, contributing 82 for the fourth wicket before Sharmin retired hurt for a determined 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was in favor of the chasing team entering the remaining two innings segments, with only 12 additional runs needed.

However, Dasanayaka removed Ritu and conceded only three runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as the Lankan team snatched the triumph at the final moment.

In the end, it was a game of nerves. The very experienced Lankan captain, who directed away a handful of team-mates as she prepared to deliver the final over, kept her composure. The opposition failed to.

There will be plenty of inquiries about Bangladesh's batting effort. They possibly have been pursuing 270 to 280 with the Lankan team seeming at ease on 159 for four in the 30th bowling phase, but rather the chase was much lower.

However, Bangladesh showed little purpose from the start, accumulating runs at less than 2.5 runs per over during the powerplay, undergoing a top-order collapse, and eventually making themselves excessive to achieve.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting lineup, if they had taken their chances in the fielding department, that 203 total goal would have been significantly less.

It took them three efforts to terminate the 72-run second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana being unable to take a difficult catch behind the stumps to dismiss Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled possibility against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was missed once more on 55 and her score of 63, the latter chance flying straight to Jhilik at cover field, before finally being given out leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she tried to increase the tempo with teammates falling near her.

Afterwards in the game, there was additionally a failed stumping and a failed run-out, even though the second one was a slightly unlucky, with Jhilik substituting with the wicketkeeping gloves following an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are not at all a one-off. They've dropped 14 catches from a available 27 opportunities at this World Cup and have the poorest fielding effectiveness (less than 50%) of the competing sides.

They are a squad who are generally moving in the correct path – they are playing in only their second ODI World Cup ultimately – but inadequate fielding is a prominent problem which demands improvement.