Sri Lanka defeats Bangladesh to keep their tournament hopes 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): Joty 77 (98); Chamari Athapaththu 4-42

The Lankan side win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team claimed four wickets in the final innings segment to seal a heart-stopping victory over their opponents and preserve their faint hopes of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals ongoing.

Pursuing a below-par score of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh needed nine runs from the remaining six balls.

Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Athapaththu took three wickets in four balls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to achieve a exciting win for Sri Lanka.

The win – the Lankan team's first of the tournament after three unsuccessful matches and two abandoned games against Australia and the Kiwi side – pushes them equal on four points with India and New Zealand, who confront each other on the coming 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 ideal beginning, with Marufa striking with the first delivery of the match to send back Vishmi Gunaratne, they were deservedly punished for a disappointing fielding performance.

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

While Athapaththu was unable to take advantage, sent back leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being put down by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made the opposition pay.

She achieved a maiden international 50-run score, accumulating 85 from 99 bowls and building an important 74-run partnership fifth-wicket with De Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, spearheaded by Shorna's impressive bowling figures, pulled themselves back to the game, with De Silva's removal in the 34th innings segment initiating a Sri Lanka downfall from 174-4 to 202 complete.

While batting second, Sri Lanka's initial pace attack Madara and Prabodhani limited the opposition to 23 for one in a lacklustre initial phase and they were afterwards reduced to 44-3.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty restored their score, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin retired hurt for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was leaning toward the chasing team entering the last two bowling phases, with only 12 runs necessary.

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu and conceded merely three runs before the captain's dramatic spell, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as Sri Lanka snatched the triumph at the death.

In the end, it was a contest of nerves. The seasoned Lankan captain, who directed away a several of fellow players as she prepared to deliver the final over, held her nerve. Bangladesh failed to.

There will be plenty of inquiries about Bangladesh's batting effort. They possibly have been needing around 270-280 with the Lankan team appearing settled on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but in contrast the required total was significantly less.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh showed little purpose from ball one, scoring at below 2.5 scoring rate during the powerplay, undergoing a top-order collapse, and finally leaving themselves excessive to accomplish.

But no matter what difficulties there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their catches in the fielding department, that 203 total objective would have been considerably smaller.

It required them three efforts to terminate the 72-run second-wicket, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana being unable to hold a tough catch while keeping to remove Perera on her score of 23 before Athapaththu survived from a caught and bowled chance possibility against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was missed further on 55 runs and 63 runs, the latter chance going right to Jhilik at cover, before eventually being given out lbw by Shorna Akter as she attempted to accelerate the scoring with teammates falling around her.

Subsequently in the batting effort, there was also a failed stumping and a failed run-out, even though the second one was a slightly unfortunate, with Rubya Haider substituting with the wicketkeeping gloves due to an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding problems are far from a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 chances from a possible 27 opportunities at this competition and boast the poorest fielding effectiveness (48.1 percent) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are overall moving in the right direction – they are playing in just their second one-day World Cup in the end – but substandard fielding is a obvious issue which needs attention.