Sri Lanka defeats the Bangladeshi side to preserve their campaign breathing

ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai

The Lankan team 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27

The Bangladeshi team 195-9 (50 overs): Joty 77 (98); Chamari Athapaththu 4-42

The Lankan side win by seven runs margin

The Lankan cricket team claimed four crucial dismissals in the decisive over to complete a heart-stopping triumph over Bangladesh and preserve their slim aspirations of making it for the World Cup semi-finals ongoing.

Pursuing a below-par total of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in the Mumbai stadium, Bangladesh wanted nine runs from the remaining six balls.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu secured three wickets in four balls and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to secure a exciting win for Sri Lanka.

The victory – Sri Lanka's maiden of the World Cup after three unsuccessful matches and two abandoned games against Australia and the Kiwi side – pushes them equal on four points with India and New Zealand, who confront each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, suffered a fifth straight setback since securing victory in their first match against the Pakistani team and have been knocked out.

While Bangladesh got off to the excellent commencement, with Marufa striking with the opening bowl of the match to send back Vishmi Gunaratne, they were appropriately made to pay for a disappointing fielding display.

They gifted lifelines to Hasini Perera, who was dropped multiple times, and the Lankan captain.

While Athapaththu could not take advantage, removed leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being dropped by Rabeya Khan, Hasini Perera forced Bangladesh suffer.

She registered a first international fifty, making 85 from 99 bowls and sharing an important 74-run partnership fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, spearheaded by Shorna Akter's three wickets for 27 runs, pulled themselves back into the game, with Nilakshi's removal in the 34th bowling segment triggering a Lankan batting collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 complete.

During their chase, Sri Lanka's initial pace attack Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 for one in a lacklustre initial phase and they were afterwards reduced to 44-3.

Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty rebuilt their batting effort, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket before the batter withdrew due to injury for a determined 64 in the 36th innings segment.

It was advantage the chasing team approaching the last two bowling phases, with only 12 more runs needed.

Yet, Dasanayaka sent back Ritu Moni and gave away merely three scoring runs before the captain's dramatic spell, with Rabeya, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa all sent back as Sri Lanka seized the victory at the death.

Ultimately, it was a contest of composure. The highly experienced Lankan captain, who moved aside a several of fellow players as she got ready to deliver the final over, kept hers. The opposition could not.

There will be many doubts about Bangladesh's batting display. They might well have been chasing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka looking settled on 159-4 in the 30th bowling phase, but rather the target was significantly less.

However, Bangladesh displayed insufficient purpose from the very beginning, scoring at less than 2.5 runs each over during the opening overs, suffering a early batting collapse, and ultimately making themselves overwhelming to do.

But whatever difficulties there are with their batting lineup, if they had accepted their chances in the field, that 203-run objective would have been significantly lower.

It needed them three tries to end the 72-run partnership second-wicket, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana failing to take a difficult opportunity behind the stumps to dismiss Perera on her score of 23 before the captain got a reprieve from a return catch possibility against Rabeya.

Perera was spilled again on her score of 55 and her score of 63, the last attempt flying right to Jhilik at cover field, before eventually being trapped lbw by Shorna Akter as she attempted to increase the tempo with batting partners getting out around her.

Later in the batting effort, there was also a stumping chance missed and a run-out opportunity lost, while the latter was a slightly regrettable, with Rubya Haider deputising with the keeping duties after an physical problem to the regular keeper.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding woes are far from a one-off. They've dropped 14 chances from a potential 27 chances at this competition and boast the worst catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the participating teams.

They are a squad who are overall moving in the correct path – they are participating in only their second ODI World Cup in the end – but poor fielding performance is a glaring problem which demands improvement.