The Lankan team beats the Bangladeshi side to keep their campaign breathing

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team secured four crucial dismissals in the decisive innings segment to achieve a nail-biting victory over Bangladesh and maintain their faint chances of qualifying for the tournament knockout stage intact.

Needing a attainable target of 203 on a favorable wicket in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh wanted nine additional runs from the final six deliveries.

However, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu took three crucial wickets in four bowls and de Silva ran out Nahida to secure a exciting win for the Lankan team.

The triumph – Sri Lanka's maiden of the competition after three unsuccessful matches and two no-results against Australia and the Kiwi side – elevates them level on four match points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who face each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, however, experienced a fifth straight defeat since securing victory in their tournament opener against Pakistan and have been eliminated.

While Bangladesh got off to the perfect start, with Marufa Akter striking with the first delivery of the game to dismiss Vishmi Gunaratne, they were deservedly penalized for a subpar fielding effort.

They provided lifelines to Perera, who was missed on three occasions, and Athapaththu.

While the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to take advantage, dismissed leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being missed by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made Bangladesh regret it.

She registered a first international 50-run score, accumulating 85 from 99 balls and sharing an crucial 74-run partnership fifth-wicket with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, spearheaded by Shorna Akter's three wickets for 27 runs, dragged themselves back to the match, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th over triggering a Sri Lanka downfall from 174-4 to 202 total.

During their chase, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Malki Madara and Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23 for one in a disappointing opening overs and they were subsequently brought down to 44-3.

Sharmin Akter and Joty reconstructed their batting effort, contributing an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket collaboration before the batter withdrew due to injury for a determined 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was in favor of Bangladesh approaching the last two overs, with merely 12 more runs needed.

Yet, Dasanayaka removed Ritu and conceded just three runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa Akter all sent back as the Lankan team snatched the victory at the very end.

Ultimately, it was a match of nerves. The very experienced Lankan captain, who moved aside a few of team-mates as she got ready to deliver the decisive over, kept her composure. Bangladesh did not.

There will be many doubts about Bangladesh's batting performance. They could easily have been chasing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team seeming at ease on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th innings segment, but in contrast the required total was significantly less.

However, Bangladesh showed little purpose from the very beginning, making runs at below 2.5 scoring rate during the opening overs, experiencing a top-order collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves too much to do.

But whatever problems there are with their batting approach, if they had taken their chances in the fielding department, that 203-run target would have been considerably less.

It needed them three efforts to break the 72-run stand second-wicket, with keeper Nigar Sultana failing to take a difficult catch as wicketkeeper to send back Hasini Perera on 23 before the captain was spared from a caught and bowled chance against Rabeya.

Perera was dropped again on 55 and her score of 63, the last attempt traveling right to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being trapped lbw by Shorna Akter as she attempted to up the ante with batting partners being dismissed near her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was furthermore a failed stumping and a failed run-out, even though the second one was a slightly unfortunate, with Jhilik deputising with the keeping duties due to an fitness issue to Joty.

Regrettably for the team, such fielding woes are far from a isolated incident. They've failed to catch 14 catches from a potential 27 opportunities at this tournament and have the poorest catching success rate (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are overall progressing in the right direction – they are participating in only their second 50-over World Cup ultimately – but inadequate fielding standards is a prominent issue which needs attention.