The Lankan team beats the Bangladeshi side to maintain their World Cup campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

Sri Lanka 202 (48.4 overs): Perera 85 (99); Shorna Akter 3-27

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

Sri Lanka emerge victorious by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team claimed four wickets in the decisive over to seal a nail-biting triumph over their opponents and maintain their faint chances of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Needing a attainable total of 203 on a good batting surface in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh wanted nine runs from the last six deliveries.

However, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu secured three wickets in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva ran out Nahida to bring about a thrilling win for the Lankan team.

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

The Bangladeshi team, however, experienced a fifth straight defeat since winning their tournament opener against the Pakistani team and have been knocked out.

Even though the Bangladeshi side made the ideal beginning, with Marufa taking a wicket with the initial ball of the encounter to dismiss Vishmi Gunaratne, they were appropriately punished for a disappointing fielding display.

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

While the Sri Lankan skipper failed to make it count, dismissed lbw for 46 a single bowl after being missed by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced the opposition regret it.

She registered a debut international 50-run score, accumulating 85 from 99 balls and building an crucial 74-run stand fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna Akter's three wickets for 27 runs, fought themselves back in the game, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th over triggering a Lankan batting collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 all out.

In reply, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 for one in a uninspiring opening overs and they were subsequently diminished to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their batting effort, putting on an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket before the batter left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was advantage the chasing team heading into the final two overs, with only 12 additional runs necessary.

However, Dasanayaka removed Ritu and allowed only three scoring runs before the captain's chaos, with Rabeya, Nahida, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as Sri Lanka grabbed the victory at the very end.

In the end, it was a game of nerve. The very experienced Athapaththu, who moved aside a handful of fellow players as she got ready to deliver the final over, kept her nerve. The opposition did not.

There will be numerous questions about the team's batting performance. They possibly have been needing 270 to 280 with Sri Lanka looking settled on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th bowling phase, but rather the chase was significantly less.

However, Bangladesh lacked purpose from ball one, scoring at below 2.5 runs each over during the powerplay, undergoing a top-order collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves too much to do.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting lineup, if they had accepted their chances in the fielding area, that 203 total objective would have been considerably less.

It needed them three tries to break the 72-run partnership second-wicket association, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana failing to grab a challenging chance while keeping to remove Hasini Perera on 23 before the captain was spared from a caught and bowled chance possibility against Rabeya.

The batter was dropped further on 55 and her score of 63, the final opportunity traveling directly to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover field, before finally being given out leg before wicket by Shorna as she attempted to increase the tempo with batting partners being dismissed around her.

Later in the batting effort, there was furthermore a stumping chance missed and a missed run-out, while the run-out chance was a slightly unlucky, with Rubya Haider deputising with the gloves after an injury to the regular keeper.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding issues are not at all a single occurrence. They've missed 14 catches from a potential 27 at this World Cup and display the lowest catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a side who are overall heading in the proper way – they are playing in merely their second one-day World Cup ultimately – but inadequate fielding is a glaring concern which needs attention.