ICC Women's World Cup 2009 - How teams qualified

The world’s top six teams – Australia, India, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka and West Indies – qualified for the ICC Women’s World Cup as a result of a top six placing at the Women’s World Cup in 2005.

The other two teams – South Africa and Pakistan – earned its place at the ICC Women’s World Cup after successfully progressing through the qualifier in February 2008.

The qualifying event, which had been scheduled for Pakistan but was moved for security reasons to Stellenbosch, South Africa, was an important milestone in the development of the sport under the banner of the ICC, who took over the running of the women's game in 2005.

There was some excellent cricket on show, with South Africa and Pakistan deservedly qualifying for Australia as they played the best and most consistent cricket throughout the week.

In a one-sided final, South Africa crushed Pakistan by eight wickets as Alicia Smith, who during the match became the first women from her country to take five wickets in an ODI, inspired her side to an easy victory as Pakistan stumbled to just 61 all out.

Sana Mir (Pakistan) and Caroline De Fouw (Netherlands) shared the Player of the Tournament Award, although there were some excellent individual performances from Isobel Joyce (Ireland) who finished the event as the leading run scorer.

On the bowling front, Sunette Loubser, who took an incredible 6-3 for South Africa against Bermuda, Alicia Smith and Kari Anderson (Scotland) finished joint leading wicket takers with each taking eleven scalps.

Urooj Mumtaz, who captained Pakistan, and Lotte Egging of the Netherlands also added their names to the record books when they both claimed their first ODI hat-tricks, while South African Cri-Zelda Brits was the only centurion at the event with her 107* against the Netherlands.

The two losing semi-finalists, Ireland and the Netherlands, may have missed out on World Cup qualification but they could at least take away the consolation that a top four finish at the event guaranteed them a place in the top 10 of the world rankings. This guaranteed them its ODI status for the next four years.

For the likes of Papua New Guinea, who played their first ever competitive matches on a turf wicket during the event, and Bermuda, who struggled to compete against some of the stronger sides, the tournament provided invaluable experience which they will look to build on at future ICC events, while Scotland and Zimbabwe also played some good cricket throughout the week.

South Africa and Pakistan also secured their place at the ICC World Twenty20 2009 through their performances at the event.