Sri Lanka defeats the Bangladeshi side to keep their World Cup tournament hopes breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi 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

The Lankan cricket team secured four wickets in the final over to complete a heart-stopping victory over Bangladesh and preserve their slim hopes of qualifying for the tournament knockout stage alive.

Needing a below-par score of 203 on a good batting surface in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team required nine additional runs from the remaining six bowls.

Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu took three important dismissals in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva ran out Nahida to achieve a exciting win for Sri Lanka.

The win – Sri Lanka's first of the competition after three defeats and two washed-out matches against the Australian team and New Zealand – elevates them equal on four tournament points with India and the New Zealand side, who face each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, on the other hand, suffered a fifth straight loss since winning their tournament opener against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

While Bangladesh got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the first delivery of the match to remove Gunaratne, they were deservedly penalized for a disappointing fielding display.

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

While the Sri Lankan skipper could not take advantage, dismissed lbw for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made the opposition regret it.

She scored a debut international fifty, accumulating 85 from 99 deliveries and contributing to an crucial 74-run partnership fifth-wicket association with De Silva.

Bangladesh, spearheaded by Shorna's impressive bowling figures, dragged themselves back to the match, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th innings segment triggering a Lankan downfall from 174 for four to 202 total.

During their chase, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited the opposition to 23 for one in a lacklustre initial phase and they were later brought down to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin and Joty reconstructed their batting effort, putting on 82 runs for the fourth wicket stand before the batter retired hurt for a resolute 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was in favor of the chasing team approaching the remaining two overs, with merely 12 runs required.

However, Dasanayaka removed Ritu Moni and conceded just three runs before Athapaththu's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as the Lankan team grabbed the victory at the final moment.

Ultimately, it was a game of nerves. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who ushered away a several of fellow players as she prepared to deliver the decisive over, kept her nerve. Bangladesh did not.

There will be many questions about Bangladesh's batting display. They might well have been pursuing 270 to 280 with the Lankan team appearing comfortable on 159 for four in the 30th bowling phase, but instead the chase was considerably smaller.

However, the batting side displayed insufficient intent from the start, accumulating runs at less than 2.5 runs per over during the opening overs, experiencing a early batting collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves overwhelming to do.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting lineup, if they had accepted their opportunities in the fielding department, that 203-run objective would have been substantially less.

It required them three tries to break the 72-run stand second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana not managing to hold a challenging chance as wicketkeeper to remove Hasini Perera on her score of 23 before Athapaththu survived from a caught and bowled chance chance against Rabeya.

The batter was spilled further on 55 and her score of 63, the latter chance flying directly to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before ultimately being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she attempted to increase the tempo with batting partners falling beside her.

Later in the game, there was also a missed stumping and a failed run-out, although the latter was a somewhat unlucky, with Jhilik deputising with the wicketkeeping gloves due to an fitness issue to Joty.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding problems are far from a isolated incident. They've missed 14 chances from a available 27 opportunities at this World Cup and have the lowest catching success rate (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are typically progressing in the proper way – they are competing in just their second ODI World Cup in the end – but poor fielding standards is a glaring problem which needs focus.