The Lankan team beats the Bangladeshi side to keep their tournament hopes breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai

Sri Lanka 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini 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

The Lankan cricket team took four wickets in the final over to achieve a thrilling triumph over Bangladesh and maintain their faint chances of making it for the World Cup semi-finals intact.

Needing a modest target of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh wanted nine more runs from the remaining six deliveries.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu secured three wickets in four deliveries and Nilakshi de Silva ran out Nahida Akter to secure a exciting win for the Lankan team.

The triumph – Sri Lanka's initial of the tournament after three unsuccessful matches and two abandoned games against Australia and the Kiwi side – elevates them level on four match points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on the coming Thursday.

Bangladesh, in contrast, endured a fifth consecutive loss since securing victory in their initial game against Pakistan and have been eliminated.

Although Bangladesh made the ideal beginning, with Marufa striking with the initial ball of the game to dismiss Gunaratne, they were rightfully punished for a poor fielding performance.

They provided lifelines to Perera, who was missed three times, and the Lankan captain.

Although Athapaththu could not make it count, sent back lbw for 46 just one delivery after being dropped by Rabeya Khan, Perera made Bangladesh regret it.

She registered a maiden international half-century, making 85 from 99 balls and sharing an crucial 74-run stand fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, led by Shorna's 3-27, dragged themselves back in the contest, with De Silva's dismissal in the 34th innings segment initiating a Lankan downfall from 174-4 to 202 complete.

While batting second, Sri Lanka's opening bowlers Madara and Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23 for one in a uninspiring opening overs and they were subsequently diminished to 44-3.

Sharmin and Joty reconstructed their batting effort, adding 82 runs for the fourth wicket stand before the batter left the field injured for a stubborn 64 in the 36th bowling phase.

It was leaning toward Bangladesh approaching the remaining two innings segments, with merely 12 more runs required.

Yet, Dasanayaka sent back Ritu and allowed only three scoring runs before the captain's dramatic spell, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all dismissed as Sri Lanka seized the triumph at the death.

In the end, it was a game of composure. The very experienced Athapaththu, who directed away a few of team-mates as she set herself to bowl the last over, held her nerve. Bangladesh did not.

There will be plenty of questions about the team's batting performance. They possibly have been chasing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team seeming at ease on 159 for four in the 30th over, but in contrast the target was considerably smaller.

Yet, Bangladesh showed little intent from the start, making runs at less than 2.5 scoring rate during the powerplay, suffering a early batting collapse, and ultimately leaving themselves overwhelming to accomplish.

But no matter what problems there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their opportunities in the field, that 203-run target target would have been substantially less.

It needed them three efforts to terminate the 72-run partnership second-wicket collaboration, with keeper Nigar Sultana being unable to take a difficult catch while keeping to send back Hasini Perera on 23 before Athapaththu got a reprieve from a caught and bowled opportunity against Rabeya Khan.

The batter was dropped again on 55 and her score of 63, the latter chance going straight to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover, before eventually being given out leg before wicket by Shorna as she sought to increase the tempo with teammates falling beside her.

Later in the batting effort, there was furthermore a missed stumping and a run-out opportunity lost, even though the second one was a little regrettable, with Jhilik substituting with the keeping duties due to an injury to the regular keeper.

Regrettably for the team, such fielding woes are nowhere near a one-off. They've missed 14 chances from a available 27 opportunities at this competition and display the poorest catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the eight teams.

They are a side who are typically moving in the proper way – they are playing in merely their second one-day World Cup in the end – but substandard fielding standards is a prominent problem which requires focus.