Women’s World Cup: Nigar Sultana’s knock goes in vain as Chamari Athapaththu defends 9 runs to seal thrilling 7-run win for Sri Lanka over Bangladesh

Chasing 203 runs for victory, Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start, losing Rubya Haider for nought in the very first over. Post her dismissal, it seemed like Bangladesh were in no rush to put any pressure on the Sri Lankan bowlers.

The opening five overs yielded a mere eight runs. The scoreboard had moved to only 23 at the end of Powerplay. It kept Sri Lanka in the game and when they dismissed Farzana Hogue and their highest run-getter of the tournament before Monday’s match – Sobhana Mistry – in the space of five overs, they were in the ascendency.

However, that was to be the final moment of delight for Sri Lanka for a while. Sharmin Akhter and Sultana used all of their experience to bring the target down with each passing over. The asking rate never demanded them to do anything out of the ordinary and after starting slowly, the pair kept knocking the runs down bit by bit.

Akhter reached her 10th ODI fifty in the 30th over and with a bit of dew setting in and no demons on the surface, Sri Lanka were starting to hope for Bangladesh to commit errors.

The right-hander had to retire hurt on 64 due to injury after putting on 84 runs with her captain, but Sultana and Shorna Akhter (who was dropped on 4) continued to milk the bowling, combining it with the odd boundary in between to never allow the pressure to get to them.

But Sri Lanka stayed in the hunt by taking regular wickets and Athapaththu took it upon her in the last over to take Sri Lanka home and she did so in emphatic fashion.

Perera plays lone hand but others falter

Earlier, a disappointing batting display saw Sri Lanka get bowled out for 202 in 48.4 overs after captain Chamari Athapaththu won the toss and elected to bat first. They were dented as early as the first ball of the innings, when Vishmi Gunarathne was trapped lbw with a booming inswinging delivery from the returning Marufa Akter.

The skipper, along with Hasini Perera began a steady rebuild before upping the pace of the innings. Athapaththu decided to use the long handle against Akter on a pitch with live grass, taking 11 runs in the fifth over.

The pair went after the Bangladesh spinners, on a surface with little help. They put on 72 runs for the second wicket before the skipper fell lbw to Rabeya Khan for 46 in the 13th over to give the Nigar Sultana-led side a much-needed opening.

The dismissal led to two more strikes in quick succession as Harshitha Samarawickrama was run out for four runs and Kaveesha Dilhari fell for the same score in bizarre circumstances. The batter chopped a short delivery from Nahida Akter to the keeper. The ball deflected off Sultana’s pads and hit the wickets. The umpires went upstairs to check for a stumping. Replays showed that as the ball hit the stumps, Dilhari’s feet were in the air and she was adjudged out.

At 101/4 in 20 overs, Sri Lanka were in desperate need of a rebuild and Perera, along with Nilakshi De Silva set about resurrecting the innings. They mixed caution with aggression efficiently to put pressure on Bangladesh. The former was given a second life when she was dropped on 63 by Rubya Haider.

But just when Sri Lanka seemed on track to get to a big total, Bangladesh clawed their way back into the innings. De Silva, who holds the record for the fastest fifty at this World Cup, became the first of Shorna Akter’s three wickets on the day, as her attempt to clear the long on boundary only found the leading edge and was caught by Nishita Akter Nishi.

That dismissal brought about another collapse as Sri Lanka went from 174/5 to 182/8. The slide included the wicket of Perera, who fell lbw to a questionable reverse sweep to Akter for 85. The lower-order added 20 more runs, which proved to be invaluable in the end.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 202 all out in 48.4 overs (Perera 85, De Silva 37; S Akter 3/27) beat Bangladesh 195/9 in 50 overs (Sultana 77, Akhter 64; Athapaththu 4/42) by seven runs.