The Lankan team defeats the Bangladeshi side to keep their World Cup campaign alive
The Lankan team will face the Pakistani side in their must-win final tournament encounter
Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai
The Lankan team 202 (48.4 overs): Perera 85 (99); Shorna Akter 3-27
Bangladesh 195-9 (50 overs): Nigar Sultana Joty 77 (98); Athapaththu 4-42
Sri Lanka emerge victorious by seven runs
The Lankan cricket team claimed four wickets in the last innings segment to achieve a nail-biting triumph over Bangladesh and keep their slim aspirations of making it for the tournament knockout stage ongoing.
Needing a modest target of 203 on a batting-friendly pitch in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh required nine more runs from the remaining six balls.
Nevertheless, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu secured three important dismissals in four balls and Nilakshi de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida to secure a thrilling victory for the Lankan team.
The win – the Lankan team's initial of the tournament after three defeats and two abandoned games against Australia and New Zealand – pushes them tied on four match points with India and the New Zealand side, who meet each other on the coming Thursday.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, endured a fifth straight setback since securing victory in their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been knocked out.
Although the Bangladeshi side made the perfect start, with Marufa striking with the first delivery of the encounter to send back Vishmi Gunaratne, they were deservedly punished for a subpar fielding display.
They offered second chances to Hasini Perera, who was dropped multiple times, and the Lankan captain.
Even though Athapaththu failed to take advantage, removed lbw for 46 a single bowl after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Perera forced Bangladesh regret it.
She registered a first international fifty, making 85 from 99 balls and contributing to an important 74-run partnership fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.
The Bangladeshi team, spearheaded by Shorna's three wickets for 27 runs, pulled themselves back to the game, with Nilakshi's wicket in the 34th over triggering a Lankan downfall from 174 for four to 202 complete.
While batting second, the Lankan team's initial pace attack Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23-1 in a lacklustre initial phase and they were afterwards brought down to 44 for three.
Sharmin Akter and Joty reconstructed their batting effort, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket before Sharmin retired hurt for a stubborn 64 in the 36th bowling phase.
It was advantage the chasing team entering the final two bowling phases, with merely 12 additional runs necessary.
Nevertheless, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu Moni and gave away merely three runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, skipper Joty and Marufa all sent back as Sri Lanka grabbed the win at the final moment.
Bangladesh cannot keep calm - and catches
Ultimately, it was a contest of composure. The seasoned Lankan captain, who directed away a few of fellow players as she got ready to deliver the decisive over, maintained hers. Bangladesh failed to.
There will be numerous questions about the team's batting performance. They might well have been chasing 270 or 280 with the Lankan team looking at ease on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th bowling phase, but instead the required total was significantly less.
Yet, Bangladesh showed little purpose from the very beginning, accumulating runs at less than 2.5 runs each over during the opening overs, undergoing a initial wicket loss, and eventually leaving themselves overwhelming to do.
But whatever issues there are with their batting, if they had accepted their chances in the fielding area, that 203-run target target would have been considerably smaller.
It needed them three efforts to break the 72-run stand second-wicket, with keeper Nigar Sultana failing to hold a tough chance behind the stumps to dismiss Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu was spared from a caught and bowled possibility against Rabeya Khan.
The batter was spilled further on 55 runs and her score of 63, the latter chance going directly to Jhilik at cover, before eventually being dismissed leg before wicket by Shorna Akter as she sought to up the ante with partners falling around her.
Subsequently in the game, there was additionally a stumping chance missed and a failed run-out, even though the second one was a slightly regrettable, with Rubya Haider standing in with the gloves after an physical problem to Joty.
Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding problems are nowhere near a isolated incident. They've missed 14 chances from a potential 27 opportunities at this tournament and display the lowest catching success rate (48.1 percent) of the participating teams.
They are a team who are generally heading in the proper way – they are competing in just their second ODI World Cup after all – but substandard fielding is a obvious issue which requires focus.
