The Lankan team defeats Bangladesh to keep their World Cup tournament hopes breathing
The Lankan team will confront the Pakistani side in their crucial last tournament game
Women's Cricket World Cup, Navi Mumbai
The Lankan team 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27
The Bangladeshi team 195-9 (50 overs): Nigar Sultana Joty 77 (98); Chamari Athapaththu 4-42
The Lankan side emerge victorious by seven runs
The Lankan cricket team claimed four crucial dismissals in the final innings segment to complete a thrilling victory over Bangladesh and preserve their narrow hopes of making it for the World Cup semi-finals ongoing.
Pursuing a modest target of 203 on a good batting surface in Navi Mumbai, the Bangladeshi team required nine additional runs from the final six balls.
However, Lankan skipper Athapaththu secured three wickets in four deliveries and de Silva dismissed via run-out Nahida Akter to secure a thrilling success for Sri Lanka.
The victory – the Lankan team's maiden of the competition after three losses and two abandoned games against the Australian team and the Kiwi side – pushes them level on four tournament points with India and the New Zealand side, who confront each other on Thursday.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, endured a fifth successive defeat since winning their initial game against the Pakistani team and have been removed from contention.
Although Bangladesh made the ideal beginning, with Marufa striking with the initial ball of the encounter to send back Gunaratne, they were rightfully made to pay for a subpar fielding performance.
They offered second chances to Perera, who was spilled on three occasions, and Athapaththu.
Even though the Sri Lankan skipper failed to take advantage, dismissed leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Perera made the opposition suffer.
She achieved a first international 50-run score, accumulating 85 from 99 deliveries and building an crucial 74-run fifth-wicket with De Silva.
Bangladesh, guided by Shorna's 3-27, fought themselves back to the match, with Nilakshi's dismissal in the 34th over triggering a Lankan batting collapse from 174-4 to 202 all out.
During their chase, the Lankan team's starting bowlers Malki Madara and Udeshika Prabodhani limited the opposition to 23 for one in a disappointing initial phase and they were later brought down to 44-3.
Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty reconstructed their innings, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket collaboration before the batter left the field injured for a resolute 64 in the 36th innings segment.
It was advantage the chasing team entering the last two innings segments, with merely 12 more runs necessary.
Nevertheless, Sugandika Dasanayaka sent back Ritu and conceded only three runs before the captain's decisive intervention, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida, captain Joty and Marufa all sent back as the Lankan team snatched the victory at the death.
Bangladesh cannot keep calm - and fielding opportunities
Ultimately, it was a match of composure. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who moved aside a few of team-mates as she prepared to deliver the last over, kept her composure. Bangladesh did not.
There will be many inquiries about Bangladesh's batting effort. They possibly have been pursuing 270 to 280 with the Lankan team looking comfortable on 159 with four wickets down in the 30th over, but rather the required total was considerably smaller.
Nevertheless, Bangladesh lacked intent from the very beginning, making runs at less than 2.5 scoring rate during the opening overs, experiencing a initial wicket loss, and eventually leaving themselves too much to achieve.
But no matter what problems there are with their batting lineup, if they had seized their catches in the field, that 203 total objective would have been significantly lower.
It required them three attempts to terminate the 72-run partnership second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Joty failing to take a tough catch behind the stumps to dismiss Perera on her score of 23 before Athapaththu survived from a return catch possibility against Rabeya.
The batter was dropped once more on 55 and 63, the final opportunity flying right to Jhilik at cover field, before ultimately being dismissed lbw by Shorna as she attempted to accelerate the scoring with batting partners being dismissed near her.
Later in the innings, there was also a stumping chance missed and a failed run-out, while the run-out chance was a somewhat regrettable, with Rubya Haider substituting with the wicketkeeping gloves due to an physical problem to Joty.
Unfortunately for Bangladesh, such fielding problems are nowhere near a one-off. They've failed to catch 14 chances from a possible 27 chances at this World Cup and boast the worst catch efficiency (48.1 percent) of the eight teams.
They are a side who are typically progressing in the correct path – they are competing in only their second 50-over World Cup ultimately – but poor fielding performance is a obvious problem which requires focus.
