Margins are very important in cricket, and who better than the West Indies would’ve harshly gotten to know about it on Saturday (April 19) in Lahore?
West Indies missed out on the Women’s World Cup qualification despite historically chasing down 167 runs in just 10.5 overs. But their net run-rate was 0.013 behind Bangladesh’s in the end, which denied them a place in the showpiece event in India.
For the first time since 2000, the West Indies Women will not be part of the World Cup, especially after making it to the semifinals in the previous edition in 2022. Instead, Bangladesh will play their second successive World Cup later this year, despite losing to Pakistan in their final qualifier clash.
It all boiled down to the last day of the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers as Bangladesh and West Indies were in the hunt to seal the final spot for the mega event. Pakistan had already qualified, but they had to beat Bangladesh to not only continue their winning streak but also keep the Caribbean team alive. They did so comprehensively, chasing down 179 runs, but took 39.4 overs to win the game. It made the task extremely tough for the West Indies to overcome the NRR of Bangladesh. Had Pakistan taken 45 or more overs to chase the score, there would’ve been no scenario for the West Indies to qualify, and Bangladesh would’ve gone through.
Nevertheless, Pakistan’s effort made it clear that the West Indies had to chase 167 runs against Thailand exactly in 10 overs. But only the Caribbean team could’ve done it, and they did it, winning the match in 10.5 overs. They could reach only 156 runs in 10 overs but if they had reached 171 runs in 11 overs, they would’ve qualified based on the net run-rate.
The equation and the understanding seemed to be clear among the West Indies batters when they needed six runs to win. At 10.4 overs, in a video shared by the Windies Cricket and the ICC, Hayley Matthews is seen screaming, telling Stafanie Taylor, the batter on strike, that they need a four and a six to qualify.
At 10.5, Taylor tried to smack a four, but her effort was a little too good, so it went for a six. The chase, which could’ve been a jubilation and historic in normal circumstances, ended in despair for the West Indies as they missed out on the World qualification.