Wrap: Australia survive scare to beat Malawi, Barbados narrowly defeat Singapore

Australia survived a huge scare to overcome Malawi with a 70-46 victory while Barbados fought hard to clinch a thrilling 55-50 win over Singapore in the Netball World Cup action on Tuesday.

Australia 70-46 Malawi

Number one in the world Australia defeated a tenacious Malawi 70-46 in their Netball World Cup Pool G match.

For the first time this World Cup, the Diamonds lost a quarter, and the teams were tied at 28-28 at halftime.

Australia increased its lead to 12 points at the end of the third quarter after bringing on goal defence Jo Weston and goal shooter Sophie Garbin.

Australia leads Group F, followed by England, with the top two teams progressing to the semi-finals.

The second pool phase began on Monday, and England and Australia are heavy favourites to win their respective groups.

Tonga 55-47 Scotland

Tonga and Scotland met for the first time in a Netball World Cup match, with the Tongan Tala prevailing 55-47.

The Scots missed several goals in the opening minutes of the first quarter, allowing Tonga to gain the upper hand and possibly eroding their confidence. At the opposite end of the court, however, Tongan goal shooter Uneeq Palavi was once again a pillar of strength, converting 12 of her 13 shots in the first quarter. Her combination with centre Hulita Veve was also as impressive as ever as the Tongans took a five-goal lead into halftime.

Emma Barrie of Scotland entered the game at the beginning of the second quarter, which was more evenly contested and ended 13-13. At halftime, former Australian Diamond Mo’onia Gerrard had replaced Kelea Iongi in goal defence and continued to put pressure on the Scottish shooters, whose average was 69.7% compared to Tonga’s 84.8.

Scotland improved their shooting percentage in the third quarter by converting 12 of their 14 attempts, but it was not enough to catch the Tongans, who extended their lead to nine goals by halftime.

The final 15 minutes were frantic, with the Thistles producing the previously absent intensity and winning the quarter by a single goal. However, it was too little, too late, as the Tongans secured the victory to guarantee that they will not finish lower than ninth in the tournament.

Zimbabwe 71-36 Sri Lanka

Zimbabwe secured their first victory of the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town by defeating Sri Lanka 71-36 with pride and honour on the line.

The Gems began the game by scoring four goals in a row, causing the Sri Lankan team to immediately switch positions on the court. Progress Moyo’s performance on the wing attack was outstanding, as she dominated the midcourt and provided quality passes to the Zimbabwe goal circle. Nalani Makunde and Nicole Muzanenamo made the most of their opportunities, missing only one shot, to give their team a comfortable halftime lead of 33-22.

Sri Lanka performed better in the second quarter, scoring only three goals fewer than Zimbabwe and holding 60% of the possession.

Zimbabwe, ranked 13th in the World Netball World Rankings, dominated Sri Lanka, ranked 15th, in the final 30 minutes of the match. Sri Lanka appeared disheartened and unable to respond to the challenge.

Muzanenamo, despite her diminutive stature, displayed impressive split landings for Zimbabwe and was awarded Most Valuable Player for her outstanding performance.

In the final 15 minutes of the one-sided match, Zimbabwe continued their impressive play, scoring 19 goals while holding Sri Lanka to only six, to secure the decisive victory.

Fiji 28-89 England

England defeated Fiji by a score of 28-89 to extend its winning streak to five consecutive matches at the Netball World Cup. This secured their position in the semifinals with one game remaining in the second round of preliminary competition.

The Roses came out of the gate swinging. In the first quarter, they were solid defensively and even more lethal offensively, with both shooters achieving a perfect shooting percentage and cruising to their highest quarter score of the tournament to that point, a 26-8 lead going into the first break.

In the second quarter, Fiji struggled to keep up with England’s tempo as the Roses maintained their intensity. Imogen Allison turned over a great deal of the ball to feed her rock-solid shooters in yet another stellar performance, first at centre and then on the wing.

England reached the 50-goal mark by halftime due to their deft passing, with Helen Housby maintaining her perfect record with 21 goals from 21 attempts.

The Pearls slowed England down somewhat in the third quarter, but not enough to have a significant impact on the game, as England entered halftime with a 46-goal lead. The Fijians scored just five goals in the fourth quarter as England secured an 89-28 win. Thursday’s match between the Roses and Australia will determine which team will finish first in the group.

Despite the loss, Fiji were already assured of finishing higher than they did at the 2019 Netball World Cup after successfully navigating the first group stage, thereby securing a position no lower than 12th.