The Lankan team defeats Bangladesh to keep their World Cup campaign ongoing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

Sri Lanka 202 (48.4 overs): Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs

Sri Lanka secured four wickets in the last innings segment to complete a heart-stopping win over Bangladesh and maintain their slim aspirations of making it for the tournament knockout stage alive.

Chasing a attainable target of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in the Mumbai stadium, the Bangladeshi team needed nine runs from the remaining six bowls.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu secured three important dismissals in four balls and Nilakshi de Silva ran out Nahida Akter to achieve a exciting victory for the Lankan team.

The triumph – Sri Lanka's maiden of the tournament after three defeats and two no-results against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them equal on four match points with India and the New Zealand side, who face each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, experienced a fifth straight defeat since winning their first match against the Pakistani team and have been removed from contention.

Although Bangladesh made the ideal beginning, with Marufa striking with the first delivery of the encounter to send back Vishmi Gunaratne, they were rightfully punished for a subpar fielding effort.

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

Although Athapaththu was unable to capitalise, sent back leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being put down by Rabeya, Hasini Perera forced the opposition regret it.

She achieved a debut international fifty, making 85 from 99 balls and building an important 74-run fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna's impressive bowling figures, dragged themselves back into the match, with Nilakshi's removal in the 34th innings segment triggering a Lankan collapse from 174 for four to 202 total.

While batting second, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani restricted the opposition to 23 for one in a lacklustre initial phase and they were later diminished to 44-3.

Sharmin and Joty reconstructed their batting effort, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket collaboration before the batter retired hurt for a determined 64 in the 36th over.

It was advantage the chasing team entering the last two overs, with merely 12 additional runs needed.

Yet, Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and gave away just three runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as the Lankan team seized the victory at the final moment.

In the end, it was a game of nerves. The very experienced Lankan captain, who ushered away a few of fellow players as she got ready to bowl the final over, maintained hers. Bangladesh could not.

There will be plenty of inquiries about the team's batting effort. They possibly have been chasing 270 to 280 with Sri Lanka appearing at ease on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but instead the required total was much lower.

However, Bangladesh lacked purpose from the start, scoring at under 2.5 scoring rate during the initial phase, undergoing a early batting collapse, and eventually making themselves excessive to achieve.

But whatever issues there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their chances in the fielding department, that 203-run goal would have been significantly less.

It required them three efforts to end the 72-run partnership second-wicket collaboration, with keeper Joty being unable to hold a challenging catch behind the stumps to remove Hasini Perera on 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled opportunity against Rabeya.

Perera was spilled again on 55 runs and her score of 63, the final opportunity traveling directly to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before finally being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna as she tried to up the ante with partners getting out around her.

Subsequently in the game, there was furthermore a stumping chance missed and a missed run-out, while the latter was a somewhat unfortunate, with Jhilik standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves after an injury to Joty.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are far from a single occurrence. They've dropped 14 opportunities from a possible 27 chances at this competition and have the lowest fielding effectiveness (48.1%) of the eight teams.

They are a team who are overall moving in the right direction – they are competing in just their second ODI World Cup ultimately – but poor fielding is a obvious concern which requires attention.