The Lankan team overcomes the Bangladeshi side to preserve their World Cup campaign breathing

Women's Cricket World Cup, Mumbai

Sri Lanka 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini Perera 85 (99); Shorna 3-27

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

Sri Lanka emerge victorious by seven runs

The Lankan cricket team secured four wickets in the last over to achieve a nail-biting win over their opponents and maintain their slim aspirations of making it for the tournament knockout stage alive.

Pursuing a modest total of 203 on a favorable wicket in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh needed nine additional runs from the last six balls.

However, Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu took three crucial wickets in four balls and de Silva ran out Nahida to achieve a dramatic win for Sri Lanka.

The victory – the Lankan team's initial of the tournament after three defeats and two washed-out matches against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them tied on four tournament points with India and the New Zealand side, who face each other on Thursday.

Bangladesh, however, endured a fifth consecutive defeat since winning their tournament opener against the Pakistani team and have been knocked out.

While Bangladesh made the excellent commencement, with Marufa Akter striking with the opening bowl of the match to dismiss Gunaratne, they were deservedly punished for a poor fielding display.

They gifted second chances to Perera, who was missed three times, and Athapaththu.

While the Sri Lankan skipper could not capitalise, dismissed leg before wicket for 46 just one delivery after being put down by Rabeya Khan, Hasini Perera made the opposition pay.

She scored a maiden international 50-run score, scoring 85 from 99 bowls and sharing an significant 74-run partnership fifth-wicket with Nilakshi de Silva.

The Bangladeshi team, guided by Shorna Akter's impressive bowling figures, fought themselves back to the contest, with De Silva's dismissal in the 34th over initiating a Sri Lanka collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 complete.

During their chase, the Lankan team's initial pace attack Madara and Prabodhani contained Bangladesh to 23 with one wicket down in a disappointing powerplay and they were subsequently reduced to 44-3.

Sharmin and Nigar Sultana Joty restored their innings, contributing 82 runs for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin left the field injured for a resolute 64 in the 36th over.

It was advantage the chasing team heading into the remaining two bowling phases, with just 12 more runs necessary.

However, Dasanayaka sent back Ritu Moni and gave away only three scoring runs before the captain's dramatic spell, with Rabeya, Nahida Akter, skipper Joty and Marufa all removed as Sri Lanka snatched the victory at the very end.

Finally, it was a game of nerve. The highly experienced Athapaththu, who directed away a handful of teammates as she set herself to bowl the final over, maintained her composure. Bangladesh failed to.

There will be numerous inquiries about the team's batting effort. They possibly have been pursuing around 270-280 with the Lankan team seeming comfortable on 159-4 in the 30th bowling phase, but in contrast the required total was significantly less.

Yet, Bangladesh showed little purpose from ball one, accumulating runs at under 2.5 scoring rate during the powerplay, suffering a early batting collapse, and eventually forcing themselves overwhelming to accomplish.

But whatever problems there are with their batting, if they had taken their opportunities in the fielding area, that 203-run target objective would have been substantially smaller.

It needed them three efforts to terminate the 72-run stand second-wicket collaboration, with keeper Nigar Sultana failing to take a difficult opportunity while keeping to dismiss Hasini Perera on 23 runs before Athapaththu survived from a return catch possibility against Rabeya.

The batter was missed again on her score of 55 and 63, the last attempt traveling right to Rubya Haider Jhilik at cover position, before finally being given out lbw by Shorna as she tried to accelerate the scoring with teammates getting out around her.

Subsequently in the innings, there was furthermore a failed stumping and a run-out opportunity lost, although the latter was a somewhat regrettable, with Rubya Haider deputising with the gloves following an physical problem to Joty.

Unfortunately for the team, such fielding problems are nowhere near a one-off. They've dropped 14 catches from a potential 27 at this tournament and boast the worst catch efficiency (48.1%) of the eight teams.

They are a team who are typically progressing in the proper way – they are playing in only their second one-day World Cup ultimately – but substandard fielding standards is a prominent problem which needs improvement.