It was a highly successful day for Puerto Rico, who are ranked fourth in the world, as they beat The Netherlands 6-1 and thrashed Spain 12-2 to seal second place in the group.

That earns them a tie against table-topping China tomorrow, with the winner qualifying for next year's Finals.

China, Puerto Rico and Cuba all finished with four wins and one defeat from the round-robin, but the latter placed third by virtue of their team quality balance.

That means Cuba are set to play fourth-placed The Netherlands in a playoff, with the winner facing the loser of the tie between China and Puerto Rico for the second place in the Finals from Group B.

Puerto Rico came from behind to beat The Netherlands in their first match of the day, and trailed 2-0 to hosts Spain after the third inning before coming back to triumph 12-2.

China suffered their first defeat of the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup 2-1 to Cuba, but that did not prevent them from topping Group A after they had earlier trounced South Africa 10-0.

The playoff matches in Valencia are due to be played tomorrow.

Hosts Italy, the United States and Australia from Group A have already secured three of the available eight places in next year's WBSC Women's Softball World Cup Finals.