Sri Lanka overcomes Bangladesh to maintain their campaign ongoing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

The Bangladeshi team 195-9 (50 overs): Nigar Sultana Joty 77 (98); Athapaththu 4-42

The Lankan side win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team took four crucial dismissals in the decisive over to complete a heart-stopping triumph over Bangladesh and keep their faint chances of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals alive.

Pursuing a attainable total of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh required nine additional runs from the remaining six deliveries.

However, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu secured three wickets in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to achieve a exciting victory for the Lankan team.

The victory – the Lankan team's initial of the competition after three unsuccessful matches and two no-results against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them level on four points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who meet each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, however, endured a fifth straight defeat since winning their first match against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.

Even though Bangladesh got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa Akter striking with the first delivery of the game to remove Gunaratne, they were rightfully penalized for a poor fielding performance.

They offered second chances to Perera, who was dropped multiple times, and the Lankan captain.

While the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to take advantage, removed leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being missed by Rabeya, Perera made the opposition pay.

She scored a first international half-century, making 85 from 99 deliveries and building an crucial 74-run stand fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna Akter's impressive bowling figures, fought themselves back to the contest, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th over causing a Lankan batting collapse from 174-4 to 202 complete.

During their chase, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Madara and Prabodhani restricted the opposition to 23-1 in a lacklustre powerplay and they were later diminished to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin and Joty rebuilt their score, putting on an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket stand before the batter left the field injured for a determined 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was leaning toward the chasing team heading into the final two innings segments, with merely 12 additional runs required.

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka sent back Ritu Moni and allowed only three scoring runs before Athapaththu's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all dismissed as Sri Lanka grabbed the win at the very end.

Ultimately, it was a game of composure. The very experienced Lankan captain, who directed away a several of team-mates as she set herself to deliver the decisive over, maintained her composure. Bangladesh did not.

There will be many doubts about the team's batting display. They could easily have been chasing 270 to 280 with the Lankan team seeming comfortable on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th bowling phase, but instead the chase was considerably smaller.

However, Bangladesh displayed insufficient intent from the start, making runs at under 2.5 scoring rate during the opening overs, undergoing a initial wicket loss, and eventually forcing themselves excessive to do.

But no matter what difficulties there are with their batting approach, if they had seized their opportunities in the fielding area, that 203-run target objective would have been considerably less.

It took them three tries to break the 72-run partnership second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana being unable to grab a challenging opportunity while keeping to remove Perera on her score of 23 before the captain was spared from a caught and bowled chance possibility against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was spilled once more on her score of 55 and her score of 63, the latter chance going right to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover field, before eventually being given out lbw by Shorna as she attempted to increase the tempo with partners getting out near her.

Later in the game, there was also a missed stumping and a run-out opportunity lost, although the latter was a somewhat regrettable, with Jhilik standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves following an fitness issue to the regular keeper.

Sadly for the team, such fielding issues are not at all a one-off. They've missed 14 chances from a possible 27 opportunities at this competition and boast the lowest catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are overall progressing in the right direction – they are competing in merely their second 50-over World Cup in the end – but inadequate fielding standards is a prominent problem which demands improvement.