Sri Lanka overcomes the Bangladeshi side to maintain their campaign alive

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side win by seven runs

Sri Lanka secured four crucial dismissals in the final over to complete a thrilling win over their opponents and keep their narrow chances of making it for the World Cup semi-finals alive.

Pursuing a attainable target of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team required nine runs from the last six bowls.

Yet, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu claimed three important dismissals in four balls and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to achieve a thrilling win for Sri Lanka.

The win – the Lankan team's maiden of the competition after three defeats and two abandoned games against the Australian team and New Zealand – moves them level on four match points with India and New Zealand, who face each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, in contrast, endured a fifth successive defeat since winning their initial game against Pakistan and have been knocked out.

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

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

Although Athapaththu could not make it count, dismissed lbw for 46 just one delivery after being put down by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made the opposition regret it.

She achieved a first international half-century, making 85 from 99 bowls and contributing to an important 74-run stand fifth-wicket collaboration with De Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna Akter's 3-27, fought themselves back into the contest, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th innings segment initiating a Sri Lanka collapse from 174-4 to 202 total.

In reply, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani restricted the opposition to 23 with one wicket down in a disappointing initial phase and they were later diminished to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their innings, adding an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket before the batter left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th over.

It was advantage Bangladesh approaching the final two bowling phases, with just 12 additional runs necessary.

Yet, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu Moni and allowed merely three runs before Athapaththu's chaos, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, captain Joty and Marufa all sent back as Sri Lanka seized the win at the death.

Ultimately, it was a contest of nerves. The seasoned Lankan captain, who moved aside a few of teammates as she got ready to bowl the last over, maintained her nerve. The opposition did not.

There will be plenty of doubts about Bangladesh's batting performance. They could easily have been pursuing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka seeming at ease on 159-4 in the 30th innings segment, but in contrast the chase was significantly less.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh displayed insufficient aggression from the very beginning, accumulating runs at below 2.5 runs per over during the initial phase, experiencing a top-order collapse, and finally making themselves excessive to achieve.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their opportunities in the fielding area, that 203-run target target would have been substantially lower.

It needed them three tries to end the 72-run partnership second-wicket association, with keeper Joty failing to hold a difficult chance while keeping to remove Perera on 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a return catch chance against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was missed again on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the latter chance flying directly to Jhilik at cover position, before ultimately being dismissed lbw by Shorna as she attempted to increase the tempo with batting partners getting out around her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was additionally a missed stumping and a failed run-out, although the latter was a little regrettable, with Rubya Haider deputising with the wicketkeeping gloves after an physical problem to Joty.

Regrettably for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are far from a single occurrence. They've missed 14 catches from a possible 27 chances at this tournament and have the lowest fielding effectiveness (48.1%) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are overall moving in the correct path – they are competing in merely their second one-day World Cup ultimately – but substandard fielding performance is a glaring issue which demands focus.