Bangladesh collapses in last over to slip to stunning loss to Sri Lanka at Women’s Cricket World Cup

By Canadian Press on October 20, 2025.

NAVI MUMBAI, India (AP) — Bangladesh lost four wickets off the final six balls in a stunning collapse as it slipped to a seven-run defeat to Sri Lanka at the Women’s Cricket World Cup on Monday.

With nine runs needed off six balls, Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu took three wickets in four balls as Bangladesh went from 194-6 to 194-9, also including a run-out, to spoil its hopes of recording a first win against Sri Lanka.

Athapaththu’s burst – 4-42 in 10 overs overall – restricted Bangladesh to 195-9 in 50 overs. It became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament after a fifth loss in six games.

Sri Lanka earned its first win to stay alive on four points, including two from no-results against Australia and South Africa. The co-hosts will take on Pakistan in their final league game in Colombo on Friday.

Sri Lanka opted to bat and was bowled out for 202 runs, with Hasini Perera scoring 85 off 99 balls and Athapaththu adding 46 off 43 balls.

“We knew we had to keep fighting till the end and we handled the pressure until the last over,” Perera said. “We made many mistakes as a batting unit and it wasn’t our best game. But we were lucky enough to win.”

Bangladesh slips up after controlled chase

Bangladesh was down to 44-3 after in-form Shobana Mistry was out for eight runs – caught off left-arm spinner Sugandika Kumari after the openers were dismissed cheaply.

Sharmin Akhter and skipper Nigar Sultana then put on 82 off 121 balls for the fourth wicket to rebuild the innings.

Sharmin scored 50 off 81 balls before going off in the 36th over owing to cramps on a hot Mumbai evening. It didn’t impact Bangladesh’s momentum, though, as Sultana added another 50 off 58 balls with Shorna Akhter, who scored 19.

Athapaththu picked up her first wicket in the 46th over when Shorna was out caught, yet Bangladesh was still ahead in the game.

With Sultana at the crease, 12 runs off the last 12 deliveries seemed viable. But Sugandika gave away only three runs in the penultimate over to build the pressure.

Athapaththu then got to work, getting Sultana’s wicket off the third ball after Nahida Akhter was run out trying to give strike. Sharmin Akhter came out again to bat, but the damage was already done for Bangladesh.

Earlier, Athapaththu became the first Sri Lankan woman to score 4,000 ODI runs. Despite losing Vishmi Gunaratne for a golden duck, she provided an early flourish to set her side up.

Hasini Perera scored 50 off 65 balls for her first half-century of the tournament. She added 72 off 75 balls with Athapaththu for the second wicket.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

The Associated Press