Bangladesh officially became the first team to get knocked out of the semifinal race in the 2025 Women’s World Cup as they floundered a glorious chance to pick up their first ever ODI win over Sri Lanka. In a low-scoring game in Navi Mumbai, Bangladesh were well placed to get over the line when they needed 12 off 12 with six wickets in hand before crumbling quite spectacularly to fall 7 runs short.
Bangladesh made a cautious start in the run chase after losing a wicket in just the second over before Sharmin Akter broke the shackles with a six. But Sri Lanka took control when a struggling Fargana Hoque got run out for a 35-ball 7 before Sugandika Kumari struck to leave Bangladesh reeling at 44/3. That is when Nigar Sultana joined the well-set Sharmin at the crease to lead the revival.
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With all the time in the world at that point, the two batters were content on playing out a few overs with the run rate even dropping below 3 at one point. At the halfway point, Bangladesh had only 73 on the board before Sharmin hit Chamari Athapaththu for a couple of boundaries in one over. Sultana got into her groove slowly as Bangladesh slowly took control of the chase.
Sri Lanka were then handed an opening when Sharmin walked off retired hurt but Sultana alongside Shorna Akter ensured that their side didn’t panic. The duo collected runs at a decent pace with the skipper even going past fifty at one stage. With Sultana now in full flow, the result appeared to be a foregone conclusion when Bangladesh brought the equation down to 27 off 30 balls with 7 wickets still in hand.
While Shorna’s wicket did cause a slight stutter, the target was still well within reach when they needed 12 from 12 with six wickets in hand. However, what followed suit was utter madness as Sugandika first delivered a terrific over that saw her pick a wicket as well to bring it down to 9 off 6. Athapaththu then took it upon herself to bowl the final over with Sultana at the non-striker’s end.
Rabeya Khan was first adjudged lbw first ball and Nahida Akter sacrificed her wicket in a bid to get Sultana on strike. That brought it down to 9 off 4 but Bangladesh still had some hope with their skipper finally at the right end. However, going for a big shot, Sultana mistimed one and found the fielder to add to Bangladesh’s misery as even Sharmin returning to bat didn’t make a difference to the final result.
Earlier in the afternoon, they got off to the worst possible start when Vishmi Gunaratne was trapped lbw first ball of the match. But Athapaththu looked in glorious touch smacking boundaries at will. Hasini Perera got off to a very good start as well to put Sri Lanka in command early. Athapaththu laid into Nahida Akter as Sri Lanka ended up scoring 64 in the first ten overs. Athapaththu then got trapped lbw against the run of play and her dismissal did pull the scoring rate down on expected lines.
Bangladesh made more incisions to leave their opponent struggling at 100/4 but Hasini and Nilakshi De Silva steadied the ship with a vital 74-run stand. In a collapse similar to the one that unfolded later in the night, Sri Lanka just couldn’t capitalise on the platform that was set. From 174/4 they collapsed big time to add only 28 runs for the final six wickets. Hasini looked good for her maiden hundred at one stage but losing partners eventually got to her and she had to depart for 85 which eventually proved to be good enough for a memorable win. While the odds are still against them, Sri Lanka now live to fight another day in the race for that fourth semifinal spot.
Brief scores
Sri Lanka – 202 (48.4)HasiniPerera 85, ChamariAthapaththu 46; ShornaAkter 3/27
Bangladesh – 195/9 (50)Nigar Sultana 77, SharminAkter 64*; ChamariAthapaththu 4/42
Result – Sri Lanka won by 7 runs
Result
Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vishmi Gunaratne | lbw b Marufa Akter | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Chamari Athapaththu | lbw b Rabeya Khan | 46 | 43 | 6 | 2 | 106.98 |
Hasini Perera | lbw b | 85 | 99 | 13 | 1 | 85.86 |
Harshitha Samarawickrama | run out (Nahida Akter) | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 36.36 |
Kavisha Dilhari | st Shamima Sultana b Nahida Akter | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
Nilakshika Silva | c Nishita Akter Nishi b Shorna Akter | 37 | 38 | 1 | 2 | 97.37 |
Anushka Sanjeewani | c & b Shorna Akter | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
Sugandika Kumari | lbw b Nishita Akter Nishi | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
Udeshika Prabodhani | b | 8 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 21.62 |
Malki Madara | run out () | 9 | 42 | 1 | 0 | 21.43 |
Inoka Ranaweera | not out | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
Total | 202/10 (48.4 Overs, RR: 4.15) |
Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marufa Akter | 5.4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | 6.67 | |
Nishita Akter Nishi | 10 | 0 | 35 | 1 | 3.50 | |
Nahida Akter | 7 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 4.29 | |
Rabeya Khan | 9 | 1 | 39 | 2 | 4.33 | |
Ritu Moni | 6 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 5.50 | |
Shorna Akter | 10 | 4 | 27 | 3 | 2.70 | |
Sobhana Mostary | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 |
Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fargana Hoque Pinky | run out (Harshitha Samarawickrama) | 7 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
Rubya Haider | c Anushka Sanjeewani b Udeshika Prabodhani | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Sharmin Akhter | not out | 64 | 103 | 0 | 0 | 62.14 |
Sobhana Mostary | c Vishmi Gunaratne b Sugandika Kumari | 8 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 61.54 |
Nigar Sultana | c & b | 77 | 98 | 0 | 0 | 78.57 |
Shorna Akter | c & b | 19 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 70.37 |
Ritu Moni | b | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 53.85 |
Rabeya Khan | lbw b | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
Nahida Akter | run out () | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Marufa Akter | lbw b | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Nishita Akter Nishi | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
Extras | 11 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 11, pen 0) |
Total | 195/9 (50 Overs, RR: 3.9) |
Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Malki Madara | 7 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 2.71 | |
Udeshika Prabodhani | 7 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 4.14 | |
Sugandika Kumari | 9 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 4.22 | |
Inoka Ranaweera | 10 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 4.20 | |
Chamari Athapaththu | 10 | 0 | 42 | 4 | 4.20 | |
Kavisha Dilhari | 7 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 3.57 |