The Lankan team overcomes Bangladesh to preserve their World Cup tournament hopes breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

Sri Lanka win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team took four wickets in the final innings segment to complete a thrilling triumph over their opponents and maintain their faint aspirations of making it for the tournament knockout stage intact.

Pursuing a attainable target of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh required nine runs from the last six bowls.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu secured three important dismissals in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to bring about a thrilling win for Sri Lanka.

The triumph – the Lankan team's initial of the World Cup after three losses and two washed-out matches against the Australian team and New Zealand – pushes them tied on four points with India and New Zealand, who meet each other on Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, in contrast, experienced a fifth straight defeat since winning their first match against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Even though Bangladesh got off to the perfect start, with Marufa Akter taking a wicket with the opening bowl of the encounter to send back Gunaratne, they were rightfully penalized for a subpar fielding display.

They offered reprieves to Perera, who was spilled on three occasions, and the Lankan captain.

Although the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to make it count, sent back leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being dropped by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made Bangladesh regret it.

She registered a first international fifty, accumulating 85 from 99 balls and contributing to an important 74-run partnership fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, spearheaded by Shorna's impressive bowling figures, dragged themselves back in the contest, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th bowling segment initiating a Lankan collapse from 174 for four to 202 total.

During their chase, Sri Lanka's opening bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited Bangladesh to 23 for one in a disappointing initial phase and they were later brought down to 44-3.

Sharmin Akter and Joty reconstructed their score, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket before the batter retired hurt for a determined 64 in the 36th over.

It was in favor of Bangladesh entering the last two overs, with just 12 additional runs needed.

Yet, Dasanayaka sent back Ritu Moni and allowed just three runs before the captain's dramatic spell, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa 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 few of team-mates as she set herself to bowl the last over, held hers. The opposition failed to.

There will be plenty of inquiries about the team's batting display. They might well have been chasing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka looking comfortable on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th bowling phase, but rather the target was much lower.

However, the batting side lacked aggression from ball one, accumulating runs at less than 2.5 runs each over during the initial phase, experiencing a top-order collapse, and ultimately making themselves overwhelming to do.

But whatever issues there are with their batting lineup, if they had seized their catches in the field, that 203 total objective would have been significantly lower.

It took them three efforts to end the 72-run second-wicket association, with keeper Joty being unable to hold a difficult opportunity as wicketkeeper to dismiss Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu got a reprieve from a caught and bowled chance possibility against Rabeya.

Perera was spilled further on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the latter chance going straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being trapped leg before wicket by Shorna as she tried to up the ante with partners being dismissed beside her.

Afterwards in the innings, there was also a missed stumping and a missed run-out, although the second one was a somewhat unlucky, with Jhilik substituting with the keeping duties after an fitness issue to Joty.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are nowhere near a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 chances from a potential 27 at this competition and have the worst fielding effectiveness (48.1 percent) of the competing sides.

They are a team who are typically progressing in the right direction – they are playing in only their second one-day World Cup in the end – but substandard fielding standards is a glaring concern which needs attention.