The Lankan team beats the Bangladeshi side to preserve their World Cup campaign alive

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team secured four wickets in the final over to complete a nail-biting win over Bangladesh and maintain their faint hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Pursuing a attainable total of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh wanted nine more runs from the final six balls.

However, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu took three important dismissals in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva ran out Nahida Akter to secure a dramatic win for Sri Lanka.

The win – Sri Lanka's initial of the World Cup after three defeats and two abandoned games against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them level on four match points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on the coming Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, however, endured a fifth consecutive loss since winning their tournament opener against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Even though Bangladesh got off to the perfect start, with Marufa taking a wicket with the opening bowl of the encounter to remove Gunaratne, they were appropriately made to pay for a subpar fielding display.

They gifted lifelines to Perera, who was missed three times, and the Lankan captain.

While the Sri Lankan skipper failed to make it count, removed lbw for 46 just one delivery after being missed by Rabeya, Perera made Bangladesh regret it.

She registered a maiden international 50-run score, scoring 85 from 99 deliveries and sharing an crucial 74-run stand fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, led by Shorna Akter's 3-27, fought themselves back in the contest, with De Silva's removal in the 34th innings segment causing a Lankan downfall from 174 for four to 202 all out.

While batting second, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited Bangladesh to 23-1 in a disappointing initial phase and they were afterwards diminished to 44 for three.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty restored their batting effort, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket collaboration before Sharmin withdrew due to injury for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was leaning toward Bangladesh entering the final two innings segments, with just 12 additional runs needed.

Nevertheless, Sugandika Dasanayaka sent back Ritu Moni and conceded just three scoring runs before the captain's dramatic spell, with Rabeya, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as the Lankan team seized the triumph at the very end.

Finally, it was a game of nerves. The seasoned Athapaththu, who directed away a several of team-mates as she got ready to deliver the final over, held her nerve. The opposition could not.

There will be many questions about Bangladesh's batting effort. They possibly have been chasing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team seeming comfortable on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th innings segment, but in contrast the chase was significantly less.

However, Bangladesh lacked purpose from the start, making runs at below 2.5 runs each over during the initial phase, suffering a initial wicket loss, and finally leaving themselves too much to do.

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

It needed them three attempts to terminate the 72-run second-wicket association, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to hold a difficult catch behind the stumps to send back Hasini Perera on 23 before Athapaththu got a reprieve from a return catch possibility against Rabeya.

The batter was spilled once more on 55 and 63 runs, the last attempt flying straight to Jhilik at cover field, before finally being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she tried to increase the tempo with partners falling beside her.

Afterwards in the batting effort, there was also a stumping chance missed and a failed run-out, even though the second one was a somewhat unlucky, with Jhilik standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves after an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Regrettably for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are not at all a isolated incident. They've dropped 14 catches from a potential 27 at this tournament and have the worst catch efficiency (48.1 percent) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are typically progressing in the proper way – they are playing in merely their second 50-over World Cup in the end – but inadequate fielding standards is a glaring concern which needs attention.