The Lankan team beats Bangladesh to keep their campaign breathing

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side win by seven runs margin

Sri Lanka took four wickets in the decisive over to seal a heart-stopping win over their opponents and maintain their faint hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Chasing a attainable total of 203 on a good batting surface in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team required nine additional runs from the remaining six deliveries.

However, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu claimed three crucial wickets in four balls and Nilakshi de Silva ran out Nahida to bring about a exciting success for Sri Lanka.

The win – the Lankan team's initial of the tournament after three losses and two abandoned games against Australia and New Zealand – pushes them equal on four match points with the Indian team and New Zealand, who meet each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, on the other hand, experienced a fifth straight setback since winning their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been knocked out.

While the Bangladeshi side got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the initial ball of the encounter to send back Gunaratne, they were appropriately penalized for a poor fielding display.

They offered reprieves to Hasini Perera, who was spilled multiple times, and Athapaththu.

While Athapaththu was unable to make it count, dismissed lbw for 46 one ball after being put down by Rabeya, Perera forced the opposition regret it.

She registered a first international 50-run score, scoring 85 from 99 bowls and contributing to an significant 74-run partnership fifth-wicket with Nilakshi de Silva.

Bangladesh, guided by Shorna's 3-27, fought themselves back in the contest, with De Silva's removal in the 34th over causing a Lankan downfall from 174 for four to 202 all out.

During their chase, Sri Lanka's starting bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited the opposition to 23 with one wicket down in a lacklustre powerplay and they were subsequently reduced to 44 for three.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their batting effort, contributing 82 for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin retired hurt for a determined 64 in the 36th over.

It was advantage the chasing team approaching the last two innings segments, with just 12 additional runs needed.

Yet, Dasanayaka sent back Ritu and gave away merely three scoring runs before Athapaththu's chaos, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as Sri Lanka grabbed the win at the final moment.

Ultimately, it was a contest of composure. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who ushered away a few of teammates as she set herself to deliver the last over, kept hers. The opposition could not.

There will be numerous questions about Bangladesh's batting performance. They possibly have been needing around 270-280 with the Lankan team appearing at ease on 159 for four in the 30th innings segment, but rather the required total was significantly less.

However, Bangladesh showed little intent from the start, scoring at below 2.5 runs each over during the opening overs, undergoing a early batting collapse, and eventually making themselves overwhelming to accomplish.

But whatever issues there are with their batting lineup, if they had taken their opportunities in the fielding area, that 203-run target target would have been substantially less.

It required them three attempts to end the 72-run second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to grab a difficult catch while keeping to remove Hasini Perera on 23 runs before the captain survived from a return catch possibility against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was spilled further on 55 and 63, the latter chance traveling straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being trapped lbw by Shorna Akter as she tried to accelerate the scoring with batting partners falling near her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was furthermore a stumping chance missed and a run-out opportunity lost, although the latter was a somewhat regrettable, with Jhilik substituting with the wicketkeeping gloves after an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Regrettably for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are far from a isolated incident. They've dropped 14 chances from a available 27 opportunities at this tournament and display the lowest catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are overall moving in the correct path – they are playing in merely their second 50-over World Cup in the end – but poor fielding is a prominent issue which needs focus.