The Lankan team beats Bangladesh to preserve their tournament hopes alive
The Lankan team will confront Pakistan in their decisive final tournament game
ICC Women's World Cup, Mumbai
The Lankan team 202 (48.4 overs): Hasini Perera 85 (99); Shorna Akter 3-27
The Bangladeshi team 195-9 (50 overs): Joty 77 (98); Athapaththu 4-42
Sri Lanka win by seven runs
Sri Lanka took four wickets in the final innings segment to seal a heart-stopping victory over their opponents and maintain their narrow hopes of qualifying for the tournament knockout stage intact.
Pursuing a attainable total of 203 on a good batting surface in the Mumbai stadium, the Bangladeshi team wanted nine more runs from the remaining six bowls.
However, Sri Lanka captain Athapaththu claimed three wickets in four balls and de Silva ran out Nahida Akter to secure a dramatic success for Sri Lanka.
The victory – the Lankan team's maiden of the World Cup after three unsuccessful matches and two no-results against Australia and New Zealand – elevates them level on four tournament points with India and the New Zealand side, who face each other on Thursday.
Bangladesh, in contrast, suffered a fifth successive setback since winning their tournament opener against the Pakistani team and have been knocked out.
Although Bangladesh got off to the ideal beginning, with Marufa Akter striking with the first delivery of the game to remove Gunaratne, they were rightfully made to pay for a disappointing fielding performance.
They offered reprieves to Perera, who was missed on three occasions, and Athapaththu.
While the Sri Lankan skipper could not take advantage, removed leg before wicket for 46 a single bowl after being put down by Rabeya, Hasini Perera made the opposition pay.
She registered a first international 50-run score, making 85 from 99 deliveries and sharing an important 74-run stand fifth-wicket collaboration with Nilakshi de Silva.
The Bangladeshi team, led by Shorna Akter's 3-27, fought themselves back to the game, with Nilakshi's wicket in the 34th innings segment triggering a Lankan collapse from 174 with four wickets down to 202 total.
During their chase, Sri Lanka's opening bowlers Madara and Prabodhani contained the opposition to 23 with one wicket down in a disappointing opening overs and they were afterwards brought down to 44 with three wickets lost.
Sharmin Akter and Nigar Sultana Joty rebuilt their score, putting on 82 for the fourth wicket stand before Sharmin retired hurt for a resolute 64 in the 36th bowling phase.
It was advantage Bangladesh approaching the remaining two overs, with merely 12 additional runs required.
Yet, Sugandika Dasanayaka removed Ritu Moni and allowed just three scoring runs before Athapaththu's dramatic spell, with Rabeya Khan, Nahida Akter, captain Joty and Marufa all dismissed as Sri Lanka seized the triumph at the death.
The Bangladeshi team cannot maintain composure - and catches
In the end, it was a match of nerves. The very experienced Lankan captain, who moved aside a handful of team-mates as she set herself to bowl the decisive over, kept hers. The opposition did not.
There will be numerous questions about Bangladesh's batting effort. They possibly have been pursuing 270 or 280 with Sri Lanka seeming comfortable on 159-4 in the 30th over, but instead the required total was much lower.
Yet, the batting side showed little aggression from ball one, scoring at less than 2.5 scoring rate during the opening overs, experiencing a early batting collapse, and ultimately making themselves too much to achieve.
But whatever problems there are with their batting lineup, if they had accepted their opportunities in the field, that 203 total goal would have been considerably lower.
It required them three efforts to terminate the 72-run stand second-wicket collaboration, with wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana not managing to hold a difficult chance behind the stumps to remove Perera on 23 before the captain was spared from a return catch chance against Rabeya.
The batter was dropped again on her score of 55 and 63 runs, the final opportunity going directly to Jhilik at cover position, before finally being given out lbw by Shorna Akter as she attempted to up the ante with batting partners falling near her.
Afterwards in the game, there was also a stumping chance missed and a run-out opportunity lost, while the second one was a somewhat regrettable, with Jhilik deputising with the wicketkeeping gloves following an injury to Joty.
Sadly for the team, such fielding woes are nowhere near a single occurrence. They've dropped 14 opportunities from a available 27 opportunities at this competition and boast the lowest catch efficiency (less than 50%) of the competing sides.
They are a side who are overall heading in the proper way – they are playing in merely their second ODI World Cup in the end – but substandard fielding is a glaring problem which needs improvement.