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

ICC Women's World Cup, Navi 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

The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team claimed four wickets in the last over to complete a heart-stopping triumph over their opponents and keep their faint aspirations of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Chasing a below-par target of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh required nine runs from the last six bowls.

However, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu secured three wickets in four bowls and de Silva ran out Nahida to bring about a thrilling success for the Lankan team.

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

The Bangladeshi team, on the other hand, endured a fifth straight defeat since securing victory in their first match against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Although the Bangladeshi side got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa taking a wicket with the first delivery of the game to dismiss Vishmi Gunaratne, they were appropriately penalized for a poor fielding performance.

They provided lifelines to Perera, who was spilled multiple times, and the Lankan captain.

Although the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to take advantage, sent back leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being put down by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made the opposition suffer.

She registered a first international half-century, scoring 85 from 99 balls and sharing an important 74-run fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, led by Shorna's 3-27, fought themselves back to the contest, with Nilakshi's removal in the 34th over triggering a Lankan collapse from 174 for four to 202 complete.

During their chase, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 for one in a disappointing initial phase and they were afterwards brought down to 44-3.

Sharmin and Joty reconstructed their score, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket before Sharmin withdrew due to injury for a determined 64 in the 36th innings segment.

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

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu Moni and gave away just three scoring runs before Athapaththu's chaos, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as Sri Lanka seized the victory at the death.

Finally, it was a game of composure. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who directed away a handful of fellow players as she prepared to bowl the last over, held her nerve. The opposition could not.

There will be plenty of questions about the team's batting display. They possibly have been needing 270 to 280 with Sri Lanka seeming settled on 159 for four in the 30th innings segment, but instead the chase was significantly less.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh lacked aggression from the very beginning, accumulating runs at less than 2.5 scoring rate during the initial phase, undergoing a early batting collapse, and finally leaving themselves overwhelming to do.

But whatever issues there are with their batting approach, if they had taken their chances in the field, that 203-run target would have been significantly less.

It needed them three efforts to terminate the 72-run partnership second-wicket association, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana failing to hold a difficult opportunity while keeping to dismiss Perera on her score of 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled chance against Rabeya.

The batter was missed again on her score of 55 and 63, the last attempt going straight to Jhilik at cover, before finally being trapped leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she tried to up the ante with batting partners being dismissed beside her.

Later in the innings, there was furthermore a failed stumping and a failed run-out, even though the second one was a somewhat unfortunate, with Rubya Haider substituting with the wicketkeeping gloves due to an injury to the regular keeper.

Regrettably for Bangladesh, such fielding problems are far from a single occurrence. They've dropped 14 opportunities from a potential 27 at this World Cup and boast the worst catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the eight teams.

They are a team who are overall moving in the right direction – they are competing in merely their second 50-over World Cup after all – but inadequate fielding standards is a prominent concern which needs attention.