Sri Lanka overcomes the Bangladeshi side to preserve their World Cup tournament hopes alive

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs margin

Sri Lanka secured four crucial dismissals in the decisive innings segment to seal a nail-biting win over their opponents and maintain their faint chances of making it for the tournament knockout stage intact.

Pursuing a below-par score of 203 on a favorable wicket in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh needed nine more runs from the remaining six deliveries.

Yet, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu claimed three crucial wickets in four bowls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to achieve a exciting victory for the Lankan team.

The victory – Sri Lanka's initial of the competition after three unsuccessful matches and two no-results against the Australian team and New Zealand – moves them equal on four match points with the Indian team and New Zealand, who face each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, however, experienced a fifth successive loss since winning their first match against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

While Bangladesh got off to the excellent commencement, with Marufa striking with the initial ball of the match to dismiss Gunaratne, they were rightfully punished for a subpar fielding display.

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

Even though Athapaththu failed to capitalise, sent back lbw for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya Khan, Hasini Perera forced Bangladesh suffer.

She registered a first international fifty, making 85 from 99 deliveries and contributing to an important 74-run fifth-wicket with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, spearheaded by Shorna Akter's 3-27, fought themselves back into the match, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th innings segment triggering a Sri Lanka downfall from 174-4 to 202 complete.

During their chase, the Lankan team's initial pace attack Malki Madara and Prabodhani limited the opposition to 23 with one wicket down in a uninspiring powerplay and they were later diminished to 44 for three.

Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty rebuilt their innings, adding 82 for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was in favor of Bangladesh heading into the last two bowling phases, with only 12 additional runs needed.

Nevertheless, Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and gave away just three scoring runs before Athapaththu's dramatic spell, with Rabeya, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa all dismissed as Sri Lanka seized the win at the death.

In the end, it was a contest of nerve. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who directed away a handful of team-mates as she prepared to deliver the decisive over, kept her nerve. The opposition did not.

There will be plenty of doubts about Bangladesh's batting performance. They could easily have been needing 270 to 280 with Sri Lanka seeming comfortable on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th bowling phase, but in contrast the required total was considerably smaller.

However, Bangladesh displayed insufficient aggression from ball one, scoring at below 2.5 scoring rate during the initial phase, undergoing a initial wicket loss, and finally making themselves too much to do.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting, if they had seized their opportunities in the field, that 203 total goal would have been significantly lower.

It needed them three tries to end the 72-run stand second-wicket, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to grab a tough catch as wicketkeeper to remove Perera on 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled chance against Rabeya.

The batter was spilled again on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the final opportunity traveling straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover field, before eventually being trapped leg before wicket by Shorna as she sought to up the ante with partners being dismissed around her.

Subsequently in the game, there was additionally a missed stumping and a missed run-out, even though the latter was a slightly unfortunate, with Jhilik deputising with the wicketkeeping gloves after an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Unfortunately for the team, such fielding problems are nowhere near a single occurrence. They've failed to catch 14 opportunities from a potential 27 at this World Cup and display the worst catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are overall progressing in the correct path – they are participating in merely their second ODI World Cup in the end – but inadequate fielding standards is a prominent concern which demands improvement.