The Lankan team beats the Bangladeshi side to keep their World Cup campaign alive

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

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

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

The Lankan side win by seven runs

Sri Lanka secured four wickets in the last over to seal a nail-biting win over their opponents and maintain their slim hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals ongoing.

Chasing a modest score of 203 on a good batting surface in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team required nine runs from the last six balls.

However, Lankan skipper Athapaththu claimed three crucial wickets in four bowls and de Silva ran out Nahida to bring about a exciting victory for Sri Lanka.

The triumph – Sri Lanka's maiden of the tournament after three defeats and two washed-out matches against Australia and New Zealand – moves them equal on four tournament points with the Indian team and New Zealand, who face each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, however, endured a fifth successive loss since securing victory in their initial game against Pakistan and have been knocked out.

Even though Bangladesh made the perfect start, with Marufa striking with the opening bowl of the match to dismiss Gunaratne, they were rightfully penalized for a subpar fielding effort.

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

Although the Sri Lankan skipper was unable to capitalise, sent back lbw for 46 one ball after being missed by Rabeya Khan, Hasini Perera made Bangladesh pay.

She registered a first international fifty, accumulating 85 from 99 bowls and contributing to an significant 74-run partnership fifth-wicket with De Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, led by Shorna's three wickets for 27 runs, pulled themselves back into the game, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th innings segment initiating a Sri Lanka downfall from 174 for four to 202 total.

During their chase, Sri Lanka's initial pace attack Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 with one wicket down in a disappointing opening overs and they were subsequently diminished to 44-3.

Sharmin and Joty rebuilt their batting effort, adding an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin left the field injured for a determined 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was leaning toward the chasing team approaching the remaining two bowling phases, with merely 12 runs required.

However, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu and allowed merely three runs before Athapaththu's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa all dismissed as Sri Lanka grabbed the win at the very end.

In the end, it was a match of composure. The seasoned Lankan captain, who ushered away a handful of fellow players as she set herself to bowl the last over, kept her nerve. Bangladesh failed to.

There will be numerous questions about Bangladesh's batting performance. They could easily have been pursuing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team looking comfortable on 159-4 in the 30th innings segment, but instead the chase was significantly less.

Yet, Bangladesh showed little purpose from the very beginning, making runs at under 2.5 runs each over during the powerplay, undergoing a top-order collapse, and finally forcing themselves excessive to do.

But whatever issues there are with their batting approach, if they had taken their opportunities in the fielding department, that 203-run target objective would have been significantly lower.

It required them three tries to end the 72-run partnership second-wicket, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana not managing to grab a difficult chance while keeping to remove Hasini Perera on 23 before the captain was spared from a return catch chance against Rabeya.

The batter was spilled again on 55 runs and 63, the last attempt flying right to Jhilik at cover, before finally being given out leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she sought to up the ante with batting partners falling beside her.

Subsequently in the game, there was also a missed stumping and a missed run-out, although the run-out chance was a little unfortunate, with Jhilik standing in with the wicketkeeping gloves following an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Sadly for Bangladesh, such fielding problems are nowhere near a single occurrence. They've failed to catch 14 catches from a possible 27 opportunities at this competition and boast the poorest catch efficiency (48.1%) of the eight teams.

They are a team who are overall moving in the right direction – they are competing in only their second ODI World Cup after all – but substandard fielding is a obvious concern which requires focus.