The Lankan team defeats Bangladesh to keep their World Cup campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Mumbai

The Lankan team 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

The Lankan side win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team took four crucial dismissals in the decisive innings segment to seal a heart-stopping win over their opponents and keep their faint chances of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Needing a attainable target of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh wanted nine more runs from the remaining six deliveries.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu took three crucial wickets in four bowls and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to achieve a dramatic success for Sri Lanka.

The victory – Sri Lanka's maiden of the tournament after three defeats and two no-results against Australia and New Zealand – moves them equal on four match points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, on the other hand, suffered a fifth consecutive loss since winning their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Although the Bangladeshi side made the excellent commencement, with Marufa taking a wicket with the initial ball of the game to remove Gunaratne, they were appropriately punished for a poor fielding performance.

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

Even though Athapaththu was unable to make it count, removed leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being missed by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made Bangladesh suffer.

She scored a maiden international 50-run score, making 85 from 99 balls and sharing an crucial 74-run fifth-wicket with Nilakshi de Silva.

Bangladesh, led by Shorna Akter's impressive bowling figures, pulled themselves back into the contest, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th innings segment initiating a Lankan collapse from 174-4 to 202 all out.

During their chase, Sri Lanka's opening bowlers Madara and Prabodhani restricted the opposition to 23-1 in a disappointing initial phase and they were afterwards brought down to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their batting effort, adding an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin left the field injured for a resolute 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was in favor of the chasing team entering the remaining two bowling phases, with only 12 additional runs required.

However, Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and conceded only three scoring runs before the captain's chaos, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as the Lankan team seized the triumph at the final moment.

In the end, it was a contest of nerve. The seasoned Lankan captain, who ushered away a handful of fellow players as she got ready to deliver the last over, kept her composure. Bangladesh failed to.

There will be many doubts about the team's batting effort. They could easily have been needing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka looking at ease on 159 for four in the 30th innings segment, but instead the required total was significantly less.

Yet, Bangladesh lacked intent from ball one, making runs at less than 2.5 scoring rate during the powerplay, undergoing a top-order collapse, and finally making themselves too much to do.

But whatever problems there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their chances in the field, that 203-run target would have been substantially lower.

It required them three efforts to end the 72-run stand second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Joty being unable to hold a difficult opportunity behind the stumps to dismiss Perera on 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a return catch possibility against Rabeya Khan.

The batter was dropped once more on 55 runs and her score of 63, the latter chance going straight to Jhilik at cover, before eventually being trapped lbw by Shorna Akter as she tried to increase the tempo with partners falling around her.

Afterwards in the innings, there was furthermore a missed stumping and a failed run-out, although the latter was a little unfortunate, with Jhilik standing in with the keeping duties after an injury to Joty.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are not at all a one-off. They've dropped 14 opportunities from a possible 27 opportunities at this World Cup and have the worst catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are overall progressing in the proper way – they are competing in just their second ODI World Cup after all – but inadequate fielding is a obvious concern which requires attention.