West Indies failed to qualify for a Women's ODI World Cup for the first time in 20 years after finishing just outside the top two in the qualifier event. Here's what went wrong for them.
One-woman show
While it's by no means a new conversation that West Indies as a side are massively over-reliant on their super-star captain, the extent to which Hayley Matthews was left to carve out their campaign on her own was extreme in this tournament. She finished the Qualifier with 240 runs at an average of exactly 60. The next leading run-scorer for West Indies was Chinelle Henry with 171 and Stafanie Taylor was the only other batter to make it into three figures. The stats are perhaps more dramatic with the ball. Matthews was the tournament's leading wicket-taker and although Aaliyah Alleyne took seven wickets in her final two games to shoot up the charts, Matthews took four-wicket-hauls twice in the tournament and finished with an average of less than 16.
The timing of Matthews performances is where that over-reliance is most telling. In West Indies' opening game of the tournament against Scotland, Matthews took four wickets fielding first before suffering debilitating cramps while batting which forced her to retire twice. A huge collapse meant Matthews had to come back in to finish the job. She was left stranded on a century, with the next highest scorer in the innings, Zaida James, having made 45, and no one else having made more than 17. West Indies were 12 runs short of their target. Had one person matched Matthews even by 50 percent, they would have won. When Matthews was out for a duck against Pakistan, the chase felt over before it began, and West indies were eventually bowled out for 126.
West Indies fail to qualify for the 2025 World Cup 💔
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) April 19, 2025
- Missed the first qualification mark of scoring 167 in 10.1 overs
- Still had a chance if they made 172 in 11 overs
- At 162 after 10.4 overs, needed a four and then a six
- Stafanie Taylor hit a six first, as WI won, but… pic.twitter.com/cOc94743vl
Deandra Dottin injury
It's over-simplified to regard one player as being enough to push a side over the line, but with such fine margins and a player of the calibre of Deandra Dottin, it's hard not to point to her missing the tournament as decisive. Dottin picked up an injury in the latter stages of the WPL that meant she missed the Qualifier. While Henry's power-hitting has added another dimension to the side, paired with Dottin that feels like it could have been a winning partnership. Equally, having the original power-hitter of the women's game in the XI in the chase against Thailand, where power was the key to score the required runs in time, would have added more depth to their chances. Beyond that, with so many tight finishes, the experience of their senior-most player in those scenarios would have been of benefit.
Fine margins
West Indies missed out on qualification for the World Cup by 0.014 on NRR. While the scores are on the board, there is an element of both fortune and clinicalness as a side that didn't go West Indies' way during the tournament. They lost to Scotland by 11 runs in a tense finish, before their match against Ireland was shortened by rain. Ireland fell six runs short in that match, and while West Indies took two points, it's likely that over a full 50-over innings Ireland may have fallen shorter of the target, with consequences for the final NRR tally.
In the final chase against Thailand, Stafanie Taylor was at the crease for the final delivery of the game. Five runs away from the target, 10 more runs before the end of the match would have meant West Indies qualified. While these situations are confusing and it's unclear whether Campbelle had the information available to her, she had to hit a four before hitting the six in order to avoid finishing the match too early. Instead, she hit a six, ending the game without a chance to push the total higher. West Indies had the firepower to secure a record run-rate in a Women's ODI chase, the skill to beat qualifying team Bangladesh, but ultimately, repeatedly falling just short in the crucial moments was their main downfall.
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