Sri Lanka defeats the Bangladeshi side to maintain their campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team secured four crucial dismissals in the final over to complete a thrilling victory over Bangladesh and maintain their narrow hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Chasing a modest score of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team needed nine more runs from the last six bowls.

Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu took three important dismissals in four deliveries and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to bring about a thrilling success for the Lankan team.

The victory – the Lankan team's initial of the competition after three losses and two abandoned games against the Australian team and the Kiwi side – moves them tied on four tournament points with India and New Zealand, who face each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, suffered a fifth straight loss since winning their first match against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

While the Bangladeshi side made the ideal beginning, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the opening bowl of the game to dismiss Gunaratne, they were appropriately made to pay for a disappointing fielding effort.

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

Even though the Sri Lankan skipper could not take advantage, sent back leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being put down by Rabeya, Hasini Perera forced the opposition pay.

She achieved a maiden international half-century, making 85 from 99 balls and building an significant 74-run partnership fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.

Bangladesh, guided by Shorna's 3-27, dragged themselves back into the contest, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th over causing a Sri Lanka downfall from 174 for four to 202 total.

While batting second, Sri Lanka's initial pace attack Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited Bangladesh to 23 for one in a uninspiring initial phase and they were afterwards brought down to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin Akter and Joty rebuilt their innings, adding 82 for the fourth wicket before the batter left the field injured for a resolute 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was advantage the chasing team entering the remaining two bowling phases, with merely 12 additional runs necessary.

Yet, Sugandika Dasanayaka sent back Ritu and allowed just three runs before the captain's dramatic spell, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, captain Joty and Marufa all sent back as the Lankan team snatched the triumph at the very end.

Ultimately, it was a match of nerve. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who ushered away a handful of fellow players as she set herself to bowl the last over, maintained her nerve. Bangladesh could not.

There will be many doubts about the team's batting performance. They could easily have been needing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka seeming comfortable on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th innings segment, but rather the chase was considerably smaller.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh lacked purpose from ball one, scoring at less than 2.5 runs each over during the opening overs, suffering a initial wicket loss, and eventually leaving themselves excessive to do.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting, if they had seized their catches in the fielding area, that 203-run objective would have been substantially lower.

It needed them three tries to end the 72-run stand second-wicket association, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana not managing to take a tough chance behind the stumps to dismiss Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled possibility against Rabeya.

The batter was spilled further on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the final opportunity traveling straight to Jhilik at cover field, before eventually being given out leg before wicket by Shorna as she sought to up the ante with partners getting out around her.

Later in the game, there was additionally a failed stumping and a missed run-out, although the latter was a slightly regrettable, with Rubya Haider deputising with the keeping duties due to an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Regrettably for the team, such fielding woes are nowhere near a isolated incident. They've dropped 14 catches from a possible 27 chances at this competition and have the lowest catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the eight teams.

They are a squad who are typically moving in the correct path – they are competing in merely their second one-day World Cup after all – but substandard fielding standards is a glaring problem which requires attention.