The Lankan team beats the Bangladeshi side to keep their World Cup tournament hopes ongoing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs margin

Sri Lanka secured four wickets in the last innings segment to complete a heart-stopping victory over Bangladesh and preserve their faint chances of making it for the World Cup semi-finals alive.

Chasing a modest total of 203 on a favorable wicket in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh needed nine more runs from the remaining six bowls.

However, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu claimed three important dismissals in four deliveries and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to achieve a thrilling win for the Lankan team.

The victory – Sri Lanka's initial of the World Cup after three losses and two abandoned games against the Australian team and New Zealand – elevates them equal on four tournament points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, experienced a fifth successive loss since winning their tournament opener against Pakistan and have been eliminated.

Although the Bangladeshi side made the perfect start, with Marufa Akter striking with the opening bowl of the game to dismiss Vishmi Gunaratne, they were deservedly made to pay for a poor fielding effort.

They provided reprieves to Perera, who was spilled three times, and the Lankan captain.

Although the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to take advantage, dismissed leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced Bangladesh pay.

She registered a maiden international half-century, scoring 85 from 99 bowls and sharing an important 74-run fifth-wicket collaboration with De Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, led by Shorna's three wickets for 27 runs, fought themselves back in the contest, with De Silva's removal in the 34th innings segment initiating a Lankan downfall from 174-4 to 202 complete.

While batting second, Sri Lanka's opening bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 for one in a disappointing powerplay and they were subsequently brought down to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty rebuilt their innings, adding 82 runs for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin withdrew due to injury for a determined 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was advantage the chasing team heading into the remaining two overs, with just 12 runs necessary.

Yet, Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and allowed only three runs before Athapaththu's dramatic spell, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa all sent back as the Lankan team snatched the win at the very end.

Ultimately, it was a match of nerves. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who ushered away a handful of teammates as she prepared to deliver the decisive over, maintained hers. Bangladesh did not.

There will be numerous questions about the team's batting effort. They could easily have been chasing around 270-280 with the Lankan team appearing comfortable on 159 for four in the 30th innings segment, but in contrast the target was much lower.

However, the batting side lacked aggression from ball one, scoring at under 2.5 runs per over during the powerplay, undergoing a early batting collapse, and ultimately making themselves overwhelming to achieve.

But no matter what issues there are with their batting lineup, if they had taken their opportunities in the fielding department, that 203-run target goal would have been significantly lower.

It took them three attempts to terminate the 72-run second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana not managing to hold a tough opportunity behind the stumps to send back Perera on 23 before the captain was spared from a return catch possibility against Rabeya Khan.

The batter was missed once more on 55 runs and 63, the last attempt traveling straight to Jhilik at cover, before ultimately being given out lbw by Shorna Akter as she sought to up the ante with teammates being dismissed around her.

Subsequently in the batting effort, there was also a stumping chance missed and a run-out opportunity lost, although the latter was a little unfortunate, with Jhilik standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves due to an physical problem to Joty.

Regrettably for the team, such fielding issues are not at all a isolated incident. They've failed to catch 14 chances from a possible 27 chances at this tournament and have the worst catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the participating teams.

They are a side who are typically progressing in the correct path – they are competing in merely their second 50-over World Cup after all – but poor fielding performance is a prominent problem which needs improvement.