NEWS
Follow UsIndia Women thrashed West Indies Women by five wickets in the final ODI on December 27 (Friday) to complete a 3-0 whitewash in Vadodara. This loss puts West Indies in a precarious position as their chances of securing an automatic qualification to the Women's World Cup 2025 in India are in jeopardy.
In the ongoing ICC Women's Championship 2022-25 cycle, the West Indies are currently in ninth position with 14 points. They still have three fixtures against England in May 2025. Even if they were to win all three of those games, they would have 20 points, which can still take them to seventh at best.
Only the top six sides, including hosts India, qualify for the World Cup, which means that the bottom four will have to play the qualifier. This effectively confirms that the Hayley Matthews-led side will have to play the qualifiers if they want to qualify for the World Cup next year.
The West Indies men's side also faced a similar fate last time. They failed to qualify directly and had to play in the qualifiers, which they eventually failed to clear. As a result, they did not play in the 2023 World Cup in India.
What about New Zealand, then?
New Zealand, too, suffered the same fate, as they were blanked 2-0 by Australia recently. The Sophie Devine-led side are now hanging by a thread as far as their automatic qualification is concerned. They have played out all their 24 matches in the cycle and are currently in sixth position with 21 points.
However, their fate is no longer in their hands, as Bangladesh have a chance to go past them if they win two of their remaining three games. As things stand, India (hosts), England, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka have directly qualified for the 2025 Women's World Cup.
Ireland, Pakistan, West Indies, and one of either New Zealand or Bangladesh will have to play the qualifiers sometime next year. The six-team tournament will also feature Scotland and Thailand, the next best-ranked ODI sides.
Two teams from that tournament will then qualify for the World Cup.
