The Lankan team defeats the Bangladeshi side to preserve their World Cup campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team secured four crucial dismissals in the last over to complete a nail-biting triumph over Bangladesh and preserve their faint chances of making it for the World Cup semi-finals ongoing.

Chasing a attainable score of 203 on a good batting surface in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh required nine more runs from the final six balls.

However, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu took three important dismissals in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to secure a exciting victory for Sri Lanka.

The victory – the Lankan team's first of the competition after three defeats and two abandoned games against the Australian team and the Kiwi side – pushes them level on four match points with the Indian team and New Zealand, who confront each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, endured a fifth straight defeat since winning their initial game against Pakistan and have been removed from contention.

Although the Bangladeshi side got off to the excellent commencement, with Marufa Akter striking with the initial ball of the game to send back Gunaratne, they were deservedly penalized for a poor fielding display.

They offered second chances to Perera, who was dropped three times, and Athapaththu.

Even though the Sri Lankan skipper failed to take advantage, sent back lbw for 46 just one delivery after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced Bangladesh suffer.

She achieved a first international 50-run score, accumulating 85 from 99 deliveries and contributing to an important 74-run partnership fifth-wicket association with De Silva.

Bangladesh, guided by Shorna's 3-27, pulled themselves back in the contest, with Nilakshi's removal in the 34th over causing a Lankan collapse from 174-4 to 202 complete.

While batting second, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 for one in a disappointing initial phase and they were subsequently diminished to 44 with three wickets lost.

Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their score, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket before the batter left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was advantage the chasing team approaching the last two bowling phases, with merely 12 runs required.

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu Moni and allowed only three scoring runs before Athapaththu's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all dismissed as the Lankan team snatched the victory at the death.

In the end, it was a match of nerve. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who directed away a few of team-mates as she prepared to deliver the final over, held hers. The opposition could not.

There will be numerous inquiries about the team's batting performance. They possibly have been needing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team seeming at ease on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but instead the target was considerably smaller.

Nevertheless, Bangladesh lacked intent from ball one, accumulating runs at below 2.5 runs each over during the initial phase, experiencing a initial wicket loss, and finally leaving themselves overwhelming to accomplish.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their chances in the field, that 203-run goal would have been significantly lower.

It needed them three efforts to break the 72-run partnership second-wicket, with wicketkeeper Joty being unable to take a tough opportunity while keeping to dismiss Perera on 23 runs before the captain survived from a caught and bowled opportunity against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was missed once more on 55 and 63, the final opportunity going directly to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover field, before ultimately being given out leg before wicket by Shorna as she tried to increase the tempo with teammates falling around her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was furthermore a stumping chance missed and a missed run-out, although the latter was a little unfortunate, with Rubya Haider standing in with the keeping duties after an fitness issue to Joty.

Regrettably for the team, such fielding issues are far from a single occurrence. They've missed 14 catches from a potential 27 chances at this tournament and display the poorest catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the participating teams.

They are a team who are generally heading in the proper way – they are competing in merely their second ODI World Cup ultimately – but substandard fielding standards is a obvious issue which requires attention.