The Lankan team beats Bangladesh to keep their campaign breathing

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

Sri Lanka 202 (48.4 overs): 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

The Lankan cricket team secured four wickets in the final innings segment to achieve a thrilling victory over Bangladesh and maintain their slim hopes of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals ongoing.

Chasing a attainable total of 203 on a favorable wicket in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh wanted nine additional runs from the remaining six bowls.

However, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu took three crucial wickets in four deliveries and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to secure a thrilling win for the Lankan team.

The win – Sri Lanka's initial of the competition after three losses and two no-results against the Australian team and New Zealand – moves them equal on four tournament points with India and New Zealand, who confront each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, however, suffered a fifth straight defeat since winning their first match against Pakistan and have been eliminated.

Although the Bangladeshi side made the excellent commencement, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the initial ball of the match to remove Vishmi Gunaratne, they were rightfully punished for a subpar fielding effort.

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

While Athapaththu failed to take advantage, removed leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being dropped by Rabeya, Perera forced the opposition regret it.

She registered a debut international fifty, making 85 from 99 deliveries and building an important 74-run stand fifth-wicket association with De Silva.

Bangladesh, spearheaded by Shorna's impressive bowling figures, fought themselves back into the game, with Nilakshi's wicket in the 34th bowling segment triggering a Lankan batting collapse from 174 for four to 202 complete.

During their chase, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Malki Madara and Prabodhani restricted the opposition to 23 for one in a disappointing opening overs and they were later diminished to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin and Joty reconstructed their batting effort, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket collaboration before the batter withdrew due to injury for a resolute 64 in the 36th innings segment.

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

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu Moni and conceded just three scoring runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as Sri Lanka grabbed the win at the death.

Ultimately, it was a game of nerve. The very experienced Lankan captain, who directed away a handful of fellow players as she prepared to bowl the final over, kept hers. Bangladesh did not.

There will be plenty of questions about Bangladesh's batting performance. They might well have been pursuing 270 to 280 with the Lankan team looking settled on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but instead the required total was significantly less.

Yet, the batting side displayed insufficient aggression from the very beginning, scoring at below 2.5 runs per over during the opening overs, experiencing a early batting collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves excessive to accomplish.

But no matter what difficulties there are with their batting lineup, if they had accepted their catches in the fielding area, that 203-run target would have been considerably smaller.

It required them three efforts to end the 72-run second-wicket association, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to hold a challenging chance while keeping to dismiss Hasini Perera on her score of 23 before Athapaththu got a reprieve from a caught and bowled opportunity against Rabeya.

Perera was missed further on her score of 55 and 63, the latter chance flying directly to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before ultimately being trapped lbw by Shorna as she attempted to accelerate the scoring with batting partners getting out near her.

Later in the batting effort, there was also a failed stumping and a failed run-out, even though the latter was a somewhat unfortunate, with Jhilik substituting with the gloves following an injury to Joty.

Regrettably for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are far from a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 chances from a potential 27 chances at this World Cup and display the poorest catching success rate (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a team who are overall heading in the proper way – they are competing in only their second ODI World Cup in the end – but poor fielding is a obvious issue which needs improvement.