The Lankan team beats Bangladesh to maintain their campaign alive

ICC Women's World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team secured four crucial dismissals in the last over to complete a nail-biting win over Bangladesh and maintain their faint aspirations of making it for the tournament knockout stage alive.

Chasing a below-par target of 203 on a good batting surface in the Mumbai stadium, the Bangladeshi team required nine additional runs from the final six deliveries.

However, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu claimed three important dismissals in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva ran out Nahida to bring about a thrilling victory for the Lankan team.

The victory – the Lankan team's first of the competition after three losses and two no-results against Australia and the Kiwi side – elevates them tied on four match points with India and the New Zealand side, who face each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, however, suffered a fifth straight setback since winning their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Although Bangladesh got off to the excellent commencement, with Marufa striking with the opening bowl of the match to send back Vishmi Gunaratne, they were rightfully penalized for a disappointing fielding display.

They gifted reprieves to Perera, who was dropped on three occasions, and Athapaththu.

Although Athapaththu failed to capitalise, removed leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being dropped by Rabeya, Perera forced the opposition regret it.

She scored a maiden international fifty, making 85 from 99 bowls and sharing an crucial 74-run fifth-wicket with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna's 3-27, fought themselves back to the game, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th bowling segment triggering a Sri Lanka downfall from 174 with four wickets down to 202 all out.

While batting second, Sri Lanka's initial pace attack Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited Bangladesh to 23 for one in a uninspiring opening overs and they were afterwards brought down to 44-3.

Sharmin and Joty reconstructed their innings, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket stand before the batter retired hurt for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was in favor of Bangladesh heading into the remaining two bowling phases, with merely 12 more runs necessary.

Nevertheless, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu and gave away merely three scoring runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa all dismissed as Sri Lanka seized the triumph at the final moment.

Ultimately, it was a contest of composure. The seasoned Lankan captain, who ushered away a few of team-mates as she prepared to deliver the last over, kept hers. The opposition failed to.

There will be numerous doubts about the team's batting display. They could easily have been chasing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team seeming settled on 159 for four in the 30th over, but instead the required total was considerably smaller.

However, the batting side displayed insufficient aggression from the very beginning, accumulating runs at below 2.5 runs per over during the opening overs, undergoing a initial wicket loss, and eventually leaving themselves too much to do.

But no matter what problems there are with their batting lineup, if they had accepted their opportunities in the fielding department, that 203-run objective would have been significantly smaller.

It needed them three attempts to break the 72-run partnership second-wicket, with keeper Joty failing to hold a tough opportunity while keeping to remove Hasini Perera on her score of 23 before Athapaththu survived from a return catch possibility against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was spilled again on 55 and 63 runs, the last attempt traveling directly to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before ultimately being trapped leg before wicket by Shorna as she tried to up the ante with partners falling beside her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was additionally a failed stumping and a failed run-out, although the latter was a little unlucky, with Jhilik deputising with the wicketkeeping gloves after an physical problem to Joty.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are not at all a isolated incident. They've failed to catch 14 opportunities from a possible 27 at this competition and have the lowest fielding effectiveness (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are overall heading in the proper way – they are participating in merely their second 50-over World Cup after all – but substandard fielding is a glaring problem which demands attention.