The Lankan team overcomes the Bangladeshi side to maintain their campaign breathing
The Lankan team will meet the Pakistani side in their must-win last group encounter
Women's Cricket World Cup, Mumbai
Sri Lanka 202 (48.4 overs): Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27
The Bangladeshi team 195-9 (50 overs): Joty 77 (98); Athapaththu 4-42
The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs margin
Sri Lanka secured four wickets in the decisive innings segment to complete a heart-stopping victory over Bangladesh and preserve their narrow chances of making it for the tournament knockout stage intact.
Pursuing a modest score of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in the Mumbai stadium, the Bangladeshi team wanted nine more runs from the remaining six balls.
Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu took three important dismissals in four bowls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to bring about a exciting win for Sri Lanka.
The victory – the Lankan team's initial of the competition after three defeats and two no-results against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them level on four points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who meet each other on Thursday.
The Bangladeshi team, in contrast, suffered a fifth successive loss since securing victory in their initial game against Pakistan and have been eliminated.
While Bangladesh made the perfect start, with Marufa taking a wicket with the initial ball of the encounter to remove Vishmi Gunaratne, they were appropriately penalized for a poor fielding performance.
They offered lifelines to Hasini Perera, who was spilled three times, and Athapaththu.
Even though Athapaththu could not take advantage, sent back leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced the opposition regret it.
She achieved a maiden international fifty, making 85 from 99 balls and building an significant 74-run partnership fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.
Bangladesh, guided by Shorna's 3-27, pulled themselves back to the match, with Nilakshi's wicket in the 34th bowling segment triggering a Lankan batting collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 complete.
While batting second, the Lankan team's initial pace attack Malki Madara and Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23-1 in a uninspiring powerplay and they were afterwards brought down to 44 for three.
Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty rebuilt their batting effort, adding an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket before the batter retired hurt for a resolute 64 in the 36th over.
It was advantage Bangladesh heading into the final two innings segments, with only 12 more runs required.
However, Sugandika Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and allowed merely three scoring runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida, captain Joty and Marufa Akter all removed as Sri Lanka seized the triumph at the death.
The Bangladeshi team are unable to keep calm - and fielding opportunities
Ultimately, it was a contest of composure. The seasoned Athapaththu, who moved aside a several of team-mates as she prepared to bowl the decisive over, kept her composure. Bangladesh did not.
There will be many inquiries about the team's batting performance. They might well have been pursuing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka seeming at ease on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but instead the required total was significantly less.
However, Bangladesh lacked purpose from ball one, accumulating runs at under 2.5 runs per over during the powerplay, experiencing a early batting collapse, and eventually forcing themselves overwhelming to accomplish.
But whatever problems there are with their batting lineup, if they had seized their catches in the fielding department, that 203-run target objective would have been considerably smaller.
It required them three attempts to break the 72-run partnership second-wicket, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana failing to grab a challenging opportunity as wicketkeeper to dismiss Perera on 23 before Athapaththu was spared from a return catch possibility against Rabeya Khan.
The batter was spilled further on her score of 55 and her score of 63, the latter chance going straight to Jhilik at cover, before ultimately being dismissed lbw by Shorna as she tried to up the ante with teammates getting out beside her.
Afterwards in the batting effort, there was additionally a failed stumping and a missed run-out, although the latter was a somewhat regrettable, with Rubya Haider substituting with the keeping duties following an physical problem to Joty.
Sadly for the team, such fielding issues are nowhere near a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 opportunities from a possible 27 opportunities at this competition and boast the poorest fielding effectiveness (less than 50%) of the competing sides.
They are a side who are generally heading in the correct path – they are playing in just their second one-day World Cup ultimately – but poor fielding is a glaring problem which needs focus.
