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

Women's Cricket World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team claimed four wickets in the last innings segment to complete a nail-biting victory over Bangladesh and preserve their narrow aspirations of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Chasing a below-par score of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team needed nine additional runs from the remaining six deliveries.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu secured three important dismissals in four bowls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to secure a exciting victory for the Lankan team.

The win – Sri Lanka's first of the competition after three unsuccessful matches and two washed-out matches against Australia and the Kiwi side – moves them level on four points with India and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, in contrast, endured a fifth successive setback since winning their first match against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Even though the Bangladeshi side got off to the excellent commencement, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the initial ball of the encounter to dismiss Vishmi Gunaratne, they were appropriately made to pay for a disappointing fielding display.

They provided second chances to Perera, who was dropped multiple times, and the Lankan captain.

While Athapaththu was unable to make it count, removed leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being put down by Rabeya, Perera forced the opposition suffer.

She achieved a debut international fifty, accumulating 85 from 99 balls and building an crucial 74-run stand fifth-wicket with De Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna Akter's 3-27, dragged themselves back into the game, with Nilakshi's wicket in the 34th bowling segment causing a Sri Lanka collapse from 174 for four to 202 complete.

While batting second, the Lankan team's initial pace attack Madara and Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23-1 in a uninspiring opening overs and they were afterwards brought down to 44 for three.

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

It was leaning toward Bangladesh heading into the last two overs, with just 12 runs needed.

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka sent back Ritu and gave away just three scoring runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all removed as Sri Lanka seized the win at the death.

In the end, it was a game of nerve. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who moved aside a handful of team-mates as she got ready to deliver the decisive over, kept her nerve. The opposition could not.

There will be many questions about Bangladesh's batting display. They could easily have been chasing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka appearing settled on 159-4 in the 30th bowling phase, but rather the target was much lower.

Yet, the batting side displayed insufficient intent from ball one, scoring at below 2.5 runs per over during the initial phase, experiencing a top-order collapse, and ultimately forcing themselves too much to do.

But no matter what difficulties there are with their batting approach, if they had taken their catches in the fielding area, that 203-run goal would have been considerably smaller.

It needed them three efforts to terminate the 72-run stand second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to hold a tough opportunity as wicketkeeper to dismiss Hasini Perera on 23 before the captain survived from a caught and bowled opportunity against Rabeya.

Perera was missed again on 55 runs and 63 runs, the latter chance traveling straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover field, before finally being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna as she attempted to up the ante with teammates falling around her.

Subsequently in the game, there was also a stumping chance missed and a failed run-out, while the run-out chance was a somewhat unfortunate, with Jhilik deputising with the keeping duties after an fitness issue to Joty.

Sadly for the team, such fielding issues are not at all a isolated incident. They've missed 14 catches from a available 27 opportunities at this World Cup and have the lowest catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the eight teams.

They are a team who are generally heading in the correct path – they are playing in merely their second 50-over World Cup in the end – but substandard fielding standards is a obvious issue which requires improvement.