The Lankan team overcomes Bangladesh to maintain their World Cup tournament hopes ongoing
The Lankan team will face Pakistan in their crucial last group encounter
ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai
The Lankan team 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27
Bangladesh 195-9 (50 overs): Nigar Sultana Joty 77 (98); Athapaththu 4-42
The Lankan side win by seven runs
Sri Lanka secured four wickets in the decisive innings segment to achieve a thrilling victory over Bangladesh and keep their faint aspirations of qualifying for the tournament knockout stage ongoing.
Needing a modest target of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh required nine runs from the remaining six bowls.
Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu claimed three important dismissals in four balls and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to bring about a exciting success for the Lankan team.
The win – Sri Lanka's first of the World Cup after three losses and two no-results against Australia and the Kiwi side – moves them tied on four tournament points with the Indian team and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on Thursday.
Bangladesh, however, experienced a fifth consecutive defeat since securing victory in their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been eliminated.
While Bangladesh made the ideal beginning, with Marufa striking with the first delivery of the match to send back Vishmi Gunaratne, they were deservedly made to pay for a poor fielding display.
They gifted reprieves to Perera, who was spilled on three occasions, and Athapaththu.
Although Athapaththu could not take advantage, removed lbw for 46 a single bowl after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced Bangladesh pay.
She scored a debut international half-century, scoring 85 from 99 deliveries and sharing an important 74-run fifth-wicket association with Nilakshi de Silva.
The Bangladeshi team, led by Shorna Akter's three wickets for 27 runs, dragged themselves back to the contest, with De Silva's wicket in the 34th bowling segment initiating a Sri Lanka downfall from 174 with four wickets down to 202 complete.
In reply, Sri Lanka's opening bowlers Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23-1 in a uninspiring initial phase and they were afterwards diminished to 44 with three wickets lost.
Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their batting effort, adding 82 for the fourth wicket collaboration before the batter retired hurt for a stubborn 64 in the 36th bowling phase.
It was advantage the chasing team entering the remaining two overs, with merely 12 more runs necessary.
However, Dasanayaka dismissed Ritu Moni and conceded just three scoring runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa all removed as the Lankan team grabbed the victory at the very end.
The Bangladeshi team fail to maintain composure - and catches
Ultimately, it was a game of nerves. The seasoned Athapaththu, who directed away a few of fellow players as she got ready to bowl the final over, held her composure. The opposition could not.
There will be numerous questions about the team's batting performance. They could easily have been chasing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka seeming comfortable on 159 for four in the 30th innings segment, but instead the required total was much lower.
Yet, Bangladesh lacked purpose from ball one, scoring at less than 2.5 scoring rate during the opening overs, experiencing a early batting collapse, and eventually leaving themselves overwhelming to accomplish.
But whatever issues there are with their batting approach, if they had accepted their catches in the fielding department, that 203-run objective would have been substantially less.
It needed them three attempts to terminate the 72-run partnership second-wicket collaboration, with keeper Nigar Sultana being unable to hold a challenging chance behind the stumps to dismiss Hasini Perera on 23 runs before the captain survived from a return catch possibility against Rabeya Khan.
The batter was dropped again on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the final opportunity traveling straight to Jhilik at cover, before eventually being trapped lbw by Shorna Akter as she attempted to accelerate the scoring with batting partners being dismissed around her.
Subsequently in the game, there was furthermore a stumping chance missed and a missed run-out, although the run-out chance was a little regrettable, with Jhilik deputising with the gloves following an fitness issue to the regular keeper.
Regrettably for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are not at all a isolated incident. They've failed to catch 14 chances from a possible 27 at this competition and boast the worst catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the eight teams.
They are a squad who are typically moving in the correct path – they are playing in only their second one-day World Cup in the end – but inadequate fielding standards is a prominent concern which demands focus.