Sri Lanka beats Bangladesh to keep their World Cup campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team took four wickets in the final over to seal a heart-stopping win over their opponents and maintain their faint aspirations of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Chasing a below-par total of 203 on a good batting surface in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh required nine runs from the final six balls.

Yet, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu claimed three wickets in four bowls and de Silva ran out Nahida to achieve a thrilling victory for Sri Lanka.

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

Bangladesh, however, experienced a fifth successive loss since winning their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been removed from contention.

While Bangladesh made the excellent commencement, with Marufa Akter striking with the initial ball of the match to dismiss Gunaratne, they were deservedly made to pay for a poor fielding effort.

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

While the Sri Lankan skipper could not capitalise, dismissed leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya, Hasini Perera forced the opposition suffer.

She achieved a maiden international fifty, scoring 85 from 99 bowls and contributing to an important 74-run partnership fifth-wicket collaboration with De Silva.

Bangladesh, spearheaded by Shorna Akter's 3-27, fought themselves back in the contest, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th over initiating a Sri Lanka collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 complete.

While batting second, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23 with one wicket down in a disappointing powerplay and they were afterwards diminished to 44-3.

Sharmin Akter and Joty rebuilt their score, contributing 82 for the fourth wicket before Sharmin left the field injured for a resolute 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was leaning toward the chasing team approaching the last two bowling phases, with merely 12 runs necessary.

Nevertheless, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu and allowed merely three scoring runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all dismissed as Sri Lanka seized the triumph at the death.

In the end, it was a contest of nerves. The seasoned Athapaththu, who ushered away a handful of teammates as she got ready to deliver the final over, held hers. The opposition failed to.

There will be plenty of questions about Bangladesh's batting performance. They could easily have been needing around 270-280 with the Lankan team looking comfortable on 159 for four in the 30th bowling phase, but in contrast the required total was significantly less.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh showed little purpose from the very beginning, accumulating runs at under 2.5 runs each over during the initial phase, suffering a initial wicket loss, and finally forcing themselves too much to do.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting lineup, if they had accepted their catches in the fielding department, that 203-run target target would have been considerably smaller.

It needed them three attempts to break the 72-run second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Joty not managing to take a tough chance while keeping to send back Hasini Perera on her score of 23 before the captain got a reprieve from a caught and bowled opportunity against Rabeya Khan.

The batter was missed again on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the latter chance traveling directly to Jhilik at cover field, before ultimately being given out leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she sought to up the ante with teammates getting out near her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was also a stumping chance missed and a missed run-out, although the run-out chance was a somewhat regrettable, with Jhilik deputising with the gloves due to an injury to the regular keeper.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are far from a one-off. They've dropped 14 opportunities from a potential 27 chances at this tournament and boast the worst catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are generally progressing in the right direction – they are participating in merely their second ODI World Cup in the end – but substandard fielding standards is a glaring issue which needs focus.