Sri Lanka remain with a chance of progressing in the Women’s Cricket World Cup but Bangladesh are out after an extraordinary finish in Navi Mumbai
Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu has engineered an extraordinary comeback victory over Bangladesh to keep her nation alive in the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The Tigresses appeared to be cruising to victory as they chased the 203 they needed to stay in the competition themselves but collapsed in dramatic fashion in Navi Mumbai.
They lost five wickets in seven balls as they scored one run from the last nine deliveries to lose by seven runs.
Athapaththu, who had made 46 with the bat, bowled the last over with nine required to win. She took wickets with the first, third and fourth balls, and from the second Nilakshi de Silva effected a run out with a direct hit.
The crucial wicket was off the third ball, de Silva catching Nigar Sultana Joty in the deep for 77, ending an innings that looked to be carrying Bangladesh to victory.
Perhaps relieved to be away from their island home, which has suffered a series of rain-affected and abandoned matches as it is monsoon season, Sri Lanka opted to bat first.
But they were dismissed with eight balls remaining for what seemed an under-par score, collapsing from 1-72 to 4-100, and 4-174 to 202 all out. Hasini Perera anchored the innings with 85 off 99 balls, coming in after Vishmi Gunaratne was lbw to the first ball of the innings, and much helped by being dropped three times.
Bangladesh began slowly but were well-placed at 3-126, needing 77 off 87 balls, with Joty and Sharmin Aktar having put on 102. Then the latter had to retire on 64 with what appeared a hamstring injury.
Shorna Aktar replaced her and helped add 50 but she edged behind for 19 and after Ritu Moni (7) followed Bangladesh, needing ten off nine balls, crumbled.
Sharmin returned, but by the time she got on strike it was too late.
“Not our best game, we were lucky to win,” admitted Athapaththu. “We kept fighting. If we make the semi-final, it’ll be a miracle.
“I knew if the game was taken deep, anything can happen. After Joty fell, I knew it was over. I had two choices for the final over: me or Udeshika (Prabodhani). But she said, ‘you’re in the mood, you bowl’.”
“We’ve lost three games like this, it’s heartbreaking,” said dejected Bangladesh captain Joty.
“From the start it was our game. We batted really well, but the retired hurt made us lose momentum. And then we lost wickets at crucial stages.”
All ICC Cricket World Cup matches to be broadcast exclusively live and free on Prime Video.
2025 Women’s ODI World Cup standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Total points
PTS
1
AUS
5
4
0
0
1
1.818
0
9
2
ENG
5
4
0
0
1
1.49
0
9
3
SA
5
4
1
0
0
-0.44
0
8
4
IND
5
2
3
0
0
0.526
0
4
5
NZ
5
1
2
0
2
-0.245
0
4
6
SL
6
1
3
0
2
-1.035
0
4
7
BAN
6
1
5
0
0
-0.578
0
2
8
PAK
5
0
3
0
2
-1.887
0
2
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
