Bangladesh had moments to win their opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup match but eventually ended up losing as Sri Lanka won by seven wickets with 10 balls to spare at Cape Town on Sunday.

After choosing to bat first, Bangladesh got off to a good start, scoring 48 runs in the powerplay overs but failed to hit a single boundary after that and ended up with 128/8 in their 20 overs.

In reply, Sri Lanka looked in deep trouble at 25/3 in the last over of the powerplay, but from there powered on to score 129/3 in 18.2 overs, thanks to an unbeaten 69 from 50 balls from Harshitha Samarawickrama.

She was the player of the match as a result and was ably supported by Nilakshi de Silva, who scored 41 from 38 balls to help Sri Lanka win two games out of two.

For the Tigresses 18-year-old fast bowler Marufa Akter was the most impressive player and at one point she took three wickets without conceding a run.

The girl from Nilphamari, who also played for Bangladesh in the U-19 Women's World Cup, ended with figures of 3/23 in her four overs.

Sri Lanka top Group 1 with four points while Bangladesh are fourth in a group that also has defending champions Australia, hosts South Africa, and New Zealand.

Bangladesh next face Australia on Tuesday at Gqeberha at 11:00 pm Bangladesh standard time.