West Indies' historic chase ends in heartbreak as Bangladesh seal World Cup spot

West Indies have missed on the Women's ODI World Cup by a fraction - literally - after they successfully chased 167 against Thailand in 10.5 overs but still needed to score the runs a little quicker to overhaul Bangladesh's net run-rate. West Indies needed to reach 167 in 9.6 overs or win with a boundary that would take them to 171 in 10.5 overs. In the end, their net run-rate was 0.013 behind Bangladesh's, which denied them a place at this year's World Cup.

This is the first time in six editions, since the year 2000, that West Indies will not be part of a Women's World Cup and comes after they finished as losing semi-finalists in 2022. Bangladesh, who qualified ahead of West Indies, will play in their second successive World Cup despite losing to Pakistan by seven wickets in the final fixture of the qualifier. Bangladesh also lost to West Indies in their campaign while West Indies' opening defeat to Scotland and 65-run loss to Pakistan were ultimately responsible for them falling short.

After Pakistan secured their World Cup spot on Thursday, the final place was decided in the last match in dramatic fashion. West Indies chose to field first, while Pakistan were chasing 179 against Bangladesh. Pakistan reached the target inside 40 overs but had they taken 45 overs to get there, West Indies would have no possible scenario to go past Bangladesh's net run-rate while chasing. West Indies also gave themselves far more to get than they would have liked after they had Thailand 85 for 6 in the 27th over and a target of 120 looked possible.

Natthakan Chantham kept the tail together for partnerships of 33, 14, 19 and 15 for the seventh to tenth wickets as Thailand batted until the 47th over to set West Indies a target of 167. Afy Fletcher's career-best 4 for 20 will be but a footnote in a painful chapter of West Indian cricket's history.

By the time West Indies' chase began, they knew exactly what they needed to do to qualify for the World Cup and it was a tough task. To leapfrog Bangladesh, they had to score 167 runs in ten overs, with a little bit of wriggle room. If the West Indies hit a six when the scores were level, they could have taken 11 overs, which meant their scoring rate had to be at least 15.64.

Thailand started with a no-ball in an over that also included a dropped catch (Hayley Matthews on 3) and a wide but West Indies got no boundaries off Phannita Maya initially and the required run-rate was already pushing past 17.5. Matthews hit the third ball of Nattaya Boochatham's first over for six and so began a parade of boundaries. Matthews was on 22 when she was caught off a no-ball and got to fifty off 21 balls, one more delivery than the world record in women's ODIs held by Deandra Dottin while Qiana Joseph contributed 26 off 12 balls before she was caught at fine leg, trying to clear the boundary. By then, West Indies were 81 in the sixth over and, with Matthews still there, on track to break Bangladesh's hearts.

Big-hitting Chinelle Henry was promoted to No. 3 and took two balls to get her eye in before hitting her first six. She combined with Matthews for 24 runs off nine balls and West Indies seemed in control but when Matthews was caught at short third, the nerves started showing. West Indies needed 62 runs off four overs when Matthews was dismissed.

Shermaine Campbell joined Henry and understood her role was to rotate strike but the singles only added pressure. Henry smashed 20 runs off five balls in the ninth over to leave West Indies needing 31 off six balls to qualify. They got nine off the first three balls before Campbell was run out and the pressure cooker close to exploding. Henry closed out the over with a six and a four and West Indies ended the Powerplay on 156 for 6, 11 runs away but with balls running out.

They took a single off the first ball of the 11th over and then Henry was run out which meant they needed to score more than the target in order to surpass Bangladesh's net run-rate. After Aaliyah Alleyne hit a four off her first ball, she took a single, which put West Indies on 162 after 10.4 overs. A four off the next ball would have tied the match and then they would have needed six of the final ball to get to 172 and past Bangladesh. Instead, Stafanie Taylor hit the next ball for six to end the game with West Indies' total on 168. She punched her bat straightaway as West Indian tears flowed and their World Cup dream ended.

Scant consolation will be that no team before them had even scored ten runs an over in an innings in Women's ODI history (over 1400 matches). Only one team has scored 15-plus runs per over in an innings in men's ODI history (nearly 5000 matches) - 15.83 by New Zealand against Bangladesh in 2008, who scored 95 for 0 in six overs to finish a chase of 94. That they managed to score at 15.50 and still fell short of a World Cup will be difficult to digest in days to come.

It was far less complicated for Pakistan, who completed a stellar run of five wins from five with their most comprehensive performance in the last game. They were especially untroubled by Bangladesh, who they had on the ropes at 21 for 3 inside seven overs and 178 for 9 after 50.

Bangladesh had no individual half-centuries or partnerships worth more than 44 and posted their first score under 200 of the tournament. Fatima Sana was excellent with the new ball and struck twice. She bowled Fargana Hoque and then had Nigar Sultana out lbw for 1 to finish with 12 tournament wickets, the joint second-most of the qualifiers behind Matthews.

Ritu Moni's 48 and Fahima Khatun's 44* ensured Bangladesh got past 150 but they needed much more. Marufa Akter gave them a good start when she removed Shawaal Zulfiqar lbw with a pinpoint inswinging yorker but it was all Pakistan from there.

Sidra Amin and Muneeba Ali put on a second-wicket stand of 80 and Muneeba scored her second half-century of the competition before Muneeba and Aliya Riaz shared a 74-run third wicket partnership. Riaz's fifty was her third of the tournament and suggests her promotion to No. 4 could be permanent.

Pakistan reached the target after 39.4 overs which brought Bangladesh's net run-rate down from 1.033 to 0.639. They had no idea then how crucial it was that they didn't dip any lower. It will doubtless concern Bangladesh that they did not beat either of Pakistan or West Indies but those are worries for another day as they celebrate reaching the World Cup.

The ICC has confirmed to ESPNcricnfo that the tournament will follow a hybrid model, in line with the agreement reached by the BCCI and PCB earlier this year. Pakistan will play their games outside India.

For West Indies, it will be a long trip home with the 2026 T20 World Cup next in their sights.