Sri Lanka overcomes the Bangladeshi side to preserve their campaign breathing

ICC Women's World Cup, Navi Mumbai

The Lankan team 202 (48.4 overs): Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27

Bangladesh 195-9 (50 overs): Joty 77 (98); Athapaththu 4-42

The Lankan side win by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team secured four crucial dismissals in the decisive innings segment to achieve a thrilling triumph over Bangladesh and keep their faint hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Needing a attainable score of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team wanted nine more runs from the last six deliveries.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu took three wickets in four bowls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to achieve a dramatic win for the Lankan team.

The win – the Lankan team's initial of the tournament after three losses and two washed-out matches against Australia and the Kiwi side – pushes them level on four tournament points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who face each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, in contrast, suffered a fifth consecutive defeat since securing victory in their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been removed from contention.

While the Bangladeshi side made the ideal beginning, with Marufa Akter striking with the first delivery of the match to send back Gunaratne, they were deservedly penalized for a poor fielding performance.

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

While Athapaththu was unable to make it count, removed leg before wicket for 46 one ball after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced Bangladesh suffer.

She achieved a maiden international half-century, scoring 85 from 99 bowls and contributing to an important 74-run fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.

Bangladesh, spearheaded by Shorna's three wickets for 27 runs, fought themselves back in the contest, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th over causing a Lankan collapse from 174-4 to 202 all out.

In reply, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited Bangladesh to 23 for one in a uninspiring initial phase and they were later brought down to 44-3.

Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty restored their batting effort, adding 82 runs for the fourth wicket before Sharmin left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was leaning toward the chasing team approaching the last two innings segments, with just 12 additional runs needed.

Nevertheless, Sugandika Dasanayaka sent back Ritu Moni and conceded merely three runs before Athapaththu's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as Sri Lanka seized the win at the final moment.

Finally, it was a game of nerve. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who moved aside a several of teammates as she prepared to bowl the final over, kept her composure. Bangladesh could not.

There will be plenty of doubts about the team's batting performance. They might well have been pursuing around 270-280 with Sri Lanka looking at ease on 159 for four in the 30th innings segment, but rather the required total was much lower.

Nevertheless, the batting side lacked purpose from the very beginning, scoring at less than 2.5 runs each over during the powerplay, suffering a initial wicket loss, and ultimately making themselves overwhelming to achieve.

But whatever problems there are with their batting, if they had seized their opportunities in the fielding department, that 203-run target target would have been substantially smaller.

It needed them three tries to break the 72-run second-wicket collaboration, with keeper Nigar Sultana not managing to take a difficult chance while keeping to send back Hasini Perera on 23 before the captain got a reprieve from a caught and bowled chance possibility against Rabeya Khan.

The batter was dropped further on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the final opportunity going directly to Jhilik at cover position, before eventually being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she tried to up the ante with partners being dismissed around her.

Later in the game, there was also a missed stumping and a run-out opportunity lost, while the latter was a slightly regrettable, with Jhilik substituting with the gloves due to an physical problem to Joty.

Sadly for the team, such fielding problems are not at all a one-off. They've missed 14 catches from a available 27 opportunities at this World Cup and boast the poorest catch efficiency (48.1 percent) of the eight teams.

They are a squad who are generally heading in the right direction – they are competing in just their second 50-over World Cup after all – but inadequate fielding is a prominent concern which needs attention.