Sri Lanka and Pakistan won their vital cross-over matches today in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier 2011 (WWCQ) in Dhaka, Bangladesh and by virtue of doing so have qualified for the ICC Women's World Cup 2013.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh and Netherlands will now head to play-offs for ODI status. The hosts will face USA in a bid to gain ODI recognition while The Netherlands will play fellow European ODI side Ireland in a bid to retain ODI status - win or lose, Europe will finish this event with only one ODI women's side.

At Khanshaheb Osman Ali Stadium (KSOAS), Sana Mir's Pakistan made sure runs went on the board to make it a tough task for Helmien Rambaldo's side when it came to chasing down the target.

The Dutch were set a mammoth total of 278 after Sana, along with Bismah Maroof, Nida Dar and Javeria Wadood piled on the runs for the Pakistanis to help them on their way to qualification for the ICC Women's World Cup 2013.

Javeria's 67 along with Nida's half-century were helped by in-form all-rounder Bismah who finished the game 66 not out as the side displayed some masterstrokes against the Dutch pace and spin attack.

In reply, The Netherlands were once again undone by spin, with Bismah and Nida combining to take three wickets each while Sadia Yousuf claimed two wickets also. Qanita Jalil's pace took the early wickets of Rambaldo and Miranda Veringmeier and the Dutch batting line-up collapsed for 84, with only Denise Hannema and Kerry-Anne Tomlinson managing double figures.

Sana was delighted to once again qualify for an ICC Women's World Cup, saying: 'It feels great to qualify again for the ICC Women's World Cup again, I have to say though the competition has been much tougher this time round. We were in a group with the likes of Bangladesh, Ireland and West Indies all of whom have proven a tough opposition.

'Today's performance was great, we wanted to make at least 250 and we did that, with three of the team making half-centuries too. There was some good bowling which was really tight, the only thing I would like to improve upon ahead of our match against South Africa is the amount of extras that we bowled.'

Sana added that qualification for the 2013 event would mean even greater things for women's cricket in Pakistan: 'After we won gold at the Asian Games recently, women's cricket has really taken off in the media in Pakistan and increased in popularity.

'With our qualification for the ICC Women's World Cup and the ICC Women's World Twenty20 it means two more years of competitive women's cricket for Pakistan which is great, it will mean the Pakistan Cricket Board can plan further about the women's game and develop women's cricket even more than it already has done.'

Rambaldo was disappointed to miss out on World Cup qualification but admitted it was now about learning from the past mistakes and focussing on the ODI play-off against Ireland with the victor retaining its ODI status.

Rambaldo said: 'It's obviously extremely disappointing to have missed out again on an ICC Women's World Cup qualification but we've now got to focus on the game against Ireland. We've made mistakes this week and now it's about rectifying those mistakes against Ireland, a side we know well.

'We've played Ireland many times before and in our most recent fixture against them we beat them. It will be sad to know that at the conclusion of Thursday's game there will only be one European side with ODI status but we have to remain positive and beat them.'

Rambaldo commented on today's loss: 'I think Pakistan's win was down to a combination of batting well along with us bowling some bad balls. We gave them the opportunity to put runs on the board, even after we took early wickets; we gave them the chance to build partnerships.

'In our reply, they bowled well taking two early wickets and despite us getting some momentum with our partnerships we never managed to get going. We should have performed better against the spin, it's what we have been practising for in this event and there's no excuse for poor batting. The point of cricket and events like this is about accessing and adjusting to the conditions.'

24 November

• South Africa v Pakistan (Winner to 1st/2nd play-off, loser to 3rd/4th play-off)
• West Indies v Sri Lanka (Winner to 1st/2nd play-off, loser to 3rd/4th play-off)
• Ireland v Netherlands (winner qualifies for 5th/6th play-off and retains ODI status, loser to 7th/8th play-off)
• Bangladesh v USA (winner qualifies for 5th/6th play-off and gains ODI status, loser to 7th/8th play-off)