The Lankan team overcomes the Bangladeshi side to preserve their campaign ongoing

ICC Women's 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 emerge victorious by seven runs

Sri Lanka took four crucial dismissals in the decisive innings segment to achieve a nail-biting win over Bangladesh and maintain their faint aspirations of qualifying for the tournament knockout stage intact.

Pursuing a modest target of 203 on a favorable wicket in the Mumbai stadium, the Bangladeshi team wanted nine runs from the remaining six bowls.

Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu took three crucial wickets in four balls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to secure a dramatic win for Sri Lanka.

The win – the Lankan team's initial of the World Cup after three defeats and two no-results against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them level on four match points with India and the New Zealand side, who face each other on the coming Thursday.

The Bangladeshi team, on the other hand, suffered a fifth successive setback since winning their first match against Pakistan and have been eliminated.

Although Bangladesh got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa Akter striking with the initial ball of the game to send back Gunaratne, they were appropriately made to pay for a subpar fielding effort.

They offered lifelines to Perera, who was dropped three times, and the Lankan captain.

Although the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to take advantage, removed lbw for 46 a single bowl after being missed by Rabeya, Perera forced the opposition pay.

She registered a debut international 50-run score, scoring 85 from 99 deliveries and building an crucial 74-run partnership fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna Akter's 3-27, fought themselves back to the match, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th over causing a Sri Lanka batting collapse from 174 for four to 202 all out.

In reply, the Lankan team's opening bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani restricted the opposition to 23 with one wicket down in a uninspiring initial phase and they were later reduced to 44 with three wickets lost.

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

It was advantage Bangladesh approaching the last two bowling phases, with merely 12 more runs needed.

Yet, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu and gave away merely three scoring runs before Athapaththu's dramatic spell, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all dismissed as the Lankan team grabbed the triumph at the death.

In the end, it was a game of composure. The seasoned Athapaththu, who directed away a several of team-mates as she got ready to bowl the final over, maintained her composure. The opposition did not.

There will be many doubts about the team's batting performance. They could easily have been needing 270 to 280 with Sri Lanka seeming settled on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but in contrast the required total was much lower.

However, Bangladesh showed little intent from ball one, accumulating runs at under 2.5 runs per over during the opening overs, undergoing a early batting collapse, and eventually leaving themselves excessive to achieve.

But no matter what problems 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 needed them three efforts to end the 72-run second-wicket association, with keeper Joty not managing to hold a difficult catch behind the stumps to remove Perera on 23 runs before the captain survived from a return catch opportunity against Rabeya Khan.

Perera was dropped further on 55 runs and 63 runs, the latter chance going right to Jhilik at cover, before ultimately being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she attempted to up the ante with batting partners getting out beside her.

Afterwards in the innings, there was additionally a failed stumping and a missed run-out, while the second one was a slightly regrettable, with Rubya Haider standing in with the gloves following an fitness issue to Joty.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are nowhere near a one-off. They've missed 14 catches from a available 27 at this tournament and boast the worst fielding effectiveness (48.1%) of the participating teams.

They are a team who are generally heading in the right direction – they are competing in merely their second one-day World Cup after all – but substandard fielding is a prominent issue which requires improvement.