CTICC, CAPE TOWN – Australia has given a strong effort to book themselves a place in the 2023 Netball World Cup final.
The Diamonds had to dig deep as they defeated Jamaica 57-54 in the semi-final on Saturday evening at CTICC.
The Sunshine Girls came to the match on a high having won all their matches in both stages of the tournament.
Meanwhile, Australia tasted only one defeat in the stages at the hands of England.
Vitality Roses advanced to the final following a tight 46-40 victory over the defending champions, New Zealand earlier on the day.
The Caribbean side had all their knives sharpened ahead of their clash, with the captain Jhaniele Fowler claiming a 100% scoring record thus far in the tournament.
As the first quarter ended, the match showed outstanding competitive results with both teams tied with 14 goals each.
Fowler had her 13 goals while Diamonds’ goal shooter Cara Koenen managed her 100% rate of seven goals while her teammate – goal attacker Steph Wood 7 out 8.
As the match entered the second quarter, both sides were looking ruthless, the game showed physical technique.
With the CTICC venue packed in all corners, no one wanted to be left out. The match went to half-time tied up again but this time with 29 goals.
The third quarter has shown cracks for the Sunshine Girls, something Diamonds used to their advantage as they took up a five goal lead approaching the near the end of the quarter.
Diamonds maintained their narrow lead of two goals, 40-42 at the end of the third quarter.
The final match will kick off at 18:00 on Sunday.
