The Lankan team beats Bangladesh to keep their World Cup campaign alive

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side win by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team took four wickets in the last innings segment to complete a thrilling triumph over Bangladesh and maintain their narrow aspirations of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Chasing a modest total of 203 on a good batting surface in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh needed nine runs from the remaining six bowls.

Yet, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu claimed three crucial wickets in four deliveries and de Silva ran out Nahida to secure a thrilling win for the Lankan team.

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

The Bangladeshi team, in contrast, experienced a fifth consecutive defeat since winning their first match against the Pakistani team and have been removed from contention.

Although Bangladesh got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa taking a wicket with the opening bowl of the encounter to remove Vishmi Gunaratne, they were rightfully penalized for a disappointing fielding effort.

They offered reprieves to Hasini Perera, who was missed three times, and the Lankan captain.

Although Athapaththu could not capitalise, removed leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya Khan, Perera made Bangladesh pay.

She scored a maiden international 50-run score, accumulating 85 from 99 deliveries and contributing to an significant 74-run stand fifth-wicket collaboration with De Silva.

Bangladesh, guided by Shorna Akter's three wickets for 27 runs, fought themselves back in the contest, with De Silva's removal in the 34th over causing a Sri Lanka batting collapse from 174-4 to 202 total.

During their chase, the Lankan team's initial pace attack Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited the opposition to 23 for one in a uninspiring opening overs and they were subsequently reduced to 44 for three.

Sharmin Akter and Joty rebuilt their batting effort, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket before Sharmin retired hurt for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was advantage the chasing team heading into the remaining two innings segments, with only 12 additional runs needed.

However, Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu and conceded merely three runs before Athapaththu's dramatic spell, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all removed as the Lankan team seized the victory at the final moment.

Finally, it was a contest of nerves. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who ushered away a handful of team-mates as she prepared to deliver the last over, held her nerve. Bangladesh could not.

There will be plenty of doubts about Bangladesh's batting performance. They might well have been chasing 270 to 280 with the Lankan team appearing settled on 159 for four in the 30th bowling phase, but instead the required total was significantly less.

Yet, Bangladesh showed little aggression from the start, making runs at under 2.5 runs each over during the opening overs, undergoing a initial wicket loss, and finally forcing themselves overwhelming to achieve.

But whatever problems there are with their batting lineup, if they had seized their chances in the fielding area, that 203-run goal would have been considerably smaller.

It needed them three attempts to break the 72-run stand second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana being unable to take a tough opportunity behind the stumps to remove Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu got a reprieve from a caught and bowled chance opportunity against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was missed once more on 55 and her score of 63, the final opportunity going straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover field, before finally being trapped leg before wicket by Shorna as she sought to up the ante with teammates falling around her.

Later in the innings, there was additionally a stumping chance missed and a run-out opportunity lost, although the latter was a little unfortunate, with Jhilik standing in with the keeping duties following an physical problem to Joty.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are far from a isolated incident. They've dropped 14 catches from a potential 27 chances at this competition and boast the worst fielding effectiveness (48.1 percent) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are overall heading in the correct path – they are playing in only their second ODI World Cup after all – but inadequate fielding performance is a prominent problem which requires attention.