Women’s World Cup Qualifiers: Windies maul Thailand, but miss out on World Cup berth

Strike rates of over 200 by 5 players in a chase of 166 was not enough for West Indies’ Women on Saturday morning, as they bowed out of contention for a spot in the Women’s 2025 ODI World Cup.

It was as though the Women in Maroon had won the battle but lost the war, having defeated Thailand’s women by 6 wickets in 10.5 overs.
Knowing they would need a major boost to their run- rate in order to punch their ticket to the World Cup, the Caribbean Women won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Even after what could be considered a strong start, Thailand were restricted to 166 in 46.1 overs. Natthakan Chantham played an outstanding innings of 66 runs from 98 deliveries, while the next best score of 29 came off the bat of opener Nattaya Boochatham.
Afy Fletcher claimed 4-20 from her 10 overs, Aaliyah Alleyne took 3-41 from 10, and Guyanese spinner Ashmini Munisar snared 2-15 from 4.1 overs.
With the West Indies needing to win in 10.1 overs, or get to 172 in 11 overs, in order to boost their run-rate just enough to go past Bangladesh, the chase got off to a lightning start, with Captain Hayley Matthews slamming 11 fours and 2 sixes in an entertaining 70 off 29 deliveries. Kiana Joseph hit 26 from 12, and Chinelle Henry struck 48 from 17 balls.

However, when West Indies reached 162 in 10.4 overs, having already missed the first opportunity to propel their run-rate, Stafanie Taylor attempted to get her side to 172 (needing a 4, then a 6) but unfortunately smashed a maximum that ended the game with West Indies at 168-4 in 10.5 overs.
Reflecting on the unsuccessful World Cup Qualifying tournament, West Indies Women’s Head Coach Shane Deitz praised the effort against Thailand, but admitted there are areas that need to be worked on going forward.
“Obviously, the run chase was unbelievable. We knew what we had to try to do, and to get 160-odd in 10 overs is really difficult, but the girls went about it, and played some unbelievable shots. It just shows how talented the players are,” Deitz shared in a post-match interview.
“End of the day, if you go look back at the whole tournament, there’s things that we got to do better for longer periods of time; but if we just focus on that run chase there, it was absolutely phenomenal, and the girls fought hard all of the way. I’m proud of them for that, and it’s just a shame that it come down to that. As I said, we’ve got to look back over everything, which we’ll assess tonight, and there’s periods of the tournament which we didn’t do well,” the Head Coach further explained.
Pakistan, hosts of the Qualifiers, and Bangladesh are the two teams who would be progressing to the Women’s ODI World Cup in India this September.