NEW Zealand has turned around a one-goal defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Australia to inflict that exact result on the Diamonds in the Netball World Cup final. The Silver Ferns had a shaky first few minutes, but once they settled into the game, were clearly the dominant team, maintaining possession and forcing turnovers. Australia racked up a massive 82 penalties to New Zealand’s 49, while the Silver Ferns had 57 per cent time in possession in what was a remarkable 52-51 victory in a game for the ages.

The defensive pressure from the Australians was noticeable early and it was the reigning champions who raced out to an early lead, 6-3 after a couple of crucial turnovers from the Silver Ferns. Just as New Zealand were on the attack following an Australian turnover, Jo Weston leaped high to grab a terrific intercept, and an end-to-end play finished with Caitlin Bassett securing her eighth goal in seven minutes. An uncharacteristically fumbly Maria Folau turned the ball over on the baseline to allow the Diamonds to transition down the court resulting in another goal to Bassett. But the work of Jane Watson to stand her ground in front of the Australian captain up the other end was telling, forcing a penalty and then turning a potential four-goal deficit into just three. Bassett was beginning to be called for a number of penalties on Watson, as the Silver Ferns got to within two goals and the pressure was at an all-time high. A loose pass from Jo Weston opened the door for the Silver Ferns as Australia became the side under the pump; the Diamonds margin cut to just one. Turnovers from Folau and Kelsey Browne – the latter a massive pass that missed Bassett by a good couple of feet indicated the speed of the game that was forcing mistakes from even the most talented players. Folau missed a long bomb she would normally gobble up, then another wobbly pass from Weston handed New Zealand back the ball and the Silver Ferns took full advantage with Folau and Ameliaranne Ekenasio capitalising to level the scores just before the final whistle for both sides. At the first break, Bassett was the dominant shooter with all her nine attempts going in, but picking up five penalties, while Folau and Ekenasio both had five from eight. Laura Langman was a rock of consistency in the midcourt, picking up six goal assists and 11 feeds in the opening term.

New Zealand opened the second term to hit the front for the first time after Ekenasio made good on her first attempt for the quarter following a Folau miss, while Steph Wood shot her second goal to settle Australia’s nerves. Folau’s normal accuracy was out the window early with just one goal from her first three attempts, as Ekenasio picked up an important rebound off a Folau miss to make sure the Silver Ferns scored the basket. Langman’s stunning form continued with the first four goal assists of the term, being the real difference on the court. The teams maintained their goal-for-goal nature despite Bassett missing a couple of shots in the first half of the term. Up the other end, Folau’s accuracy had returned as she used her body work to get closer to the post. A highlight-reel goal assist from Jamie-Lee Price with six minutes to go was impressive as the GIANTS Netball star went long from the midcourt straight to the uncontested Bassett who was under the post and made no mistake. But another couple of rare misses from Bassett saw the Diamonds shooter with nine from 13 as the time ticked into the final few minutes of the term, with Wood finishing perfectly with a nice long bomb to nail her third goal from as many attempts. The fierce defensive pressure that the Australians showed in the opening few minutes of the match seemed to have eased off as Folau and Ekenasio were starting to get some easy looks at the post, having nailed 15 consecutive goals without a miss. The Diamonds’ fears were made worse by a loose turnover by Browne resulting in New Zealand scoring back-to-back goals in the last minute and now holding an important 28-25 lead over their Trans-Tasman rivals. At the main break, it was the penalties column that had Australian fans frustrated, with the Diamonds recording 36-27, whilst also having 11 turnovers to the Silver Ferns’ seven. Bassett still had 20 goals to half-time despite her four misses, whilst Liz Watson was one of the few who stood up in the first half with eight goal assists from 14 feeds. Unfortunately her opposite centre Langman already had 12 goal assists from 20 feeds, while Ekenasio was efficient with 12 goals from 13 attempts.

The third term saw Gretel Tippett come on for Wood, with her first pass a turnover. But a Ferns error to Katrina Rore returned the ball back to Australian hands for Bassett to score. Up the other end, Sarah Klau replaced Courtney Bruce in goal keeper to see if the new defensive mix could yield results. But a turnover from Watson was not the ideal scenario for the Diamonds as Ekenasio again picked up a terrific rebound off a Folau long-bomb miss. Up the other end, Tippett slipped out of court for a second turnover and in the blink of an eye, the three-goal half-time lead was out to seven and slowly slipping away from the Australians as the Silver Ferns had five of the first six goals to hold a 33-26 advantage. A rare mistake into the circle from the Silver Ferns handed the Australians the ball, only for the leaders to win it straight back thanks to a deflection from Folau. The New Zealand shooter had overcome her early ball control issues to cause all sorts of headaches for Lisa Alexander’s defence, moving well around the circle and taking full control of the match against the inexperienced Klau. Australia was able to stem the bleeding to keep it at the seven-goal margin after that slow start to the term, but were not seemingly able to force a turnover with the Silver Ferns thinking their way through their possession. Noeline Taurua’s side was happy to keep possession, even going backwards and waiting for the right pass, and it proved effective as their slow but steady method restricted any unnecessary loose ball turnovers. The game was back on an even goal-for-goal keep as Tippett had overcome her early turnovers to nail five consecutive goals, while April Brandley’s inclusion at wing defence immediately had an impact up the defensive end with Weston picking up Australia’s first intercept for the quarter and then cutting the deficit to four with back-to-back goals. Australia forced another turnover in the last five seconds but the ball got to Bassett just a second too late as the whistle sounded before she could shoot with the Australians down, 37-41. Folau was dominant in the term with eight goals from nine attempts, while Watson managed to take back control in her one-on-one match-up with Langman, picking up eight goal assists to Langman’s four, but instead Gina Crampton stepped up for the Silver Ferns with seven goal assisted from nine feeds. It was hard to fault the New Zealand side as they were primed heading into the last 15 minutes with a solid lead and renowned as strong finishers – they almost stole the win off the Diamonds in the Preliminary Stage Two.

Neither side made any changes at the final break with the respective sevens returning to the court and Australia made a promising start with an intercept from Weston off a Crampton turnover leading to three consecutive goals and all of a sudden Australia was back to within a goal just 90 seconds into the final stanza. Folau settled her side’s nerves with her twenty-fifth goal of the night before Bassett made sure the silver Ferns knew they were up for a fight. Neither side had missed a shot in the first five minutes as both teams were happy to keep possession down the court. New Zealand forced Australia to blink first however with a missed pass seeing Kopua intercept at a crucial juncture in the contest and give the Silver Ferns some breathing space with Ekenasio nailing two consecutive goals to extend the lead back out to four with eight minutes to play. Folau looked to buy time in the circle and chew time off the clock, but her first miss of the quarter, and for almost 15 minutes saw Australia regain possession and score back-to-back goals through Bassett and cut the deficit back to a goal with six and a half minutes left. A nicely read intercept from Kopua off a Browne pass was quickly returned back to Australian hands as the experienced defender unluckily slipped out of court. A deflection by Tippett with four minutes remaining almost had the Diamonds fans up and about, but the Silver Ferns won it back and converted to maintain a two-goal advantage. The Diamonds kept pushing and refused to give in, but a turnover with three minutes was costly as Browne could not take the ball cleanly and all of a sudden, an end-to-end play leading in an Ekenasio goal put the visitors back out to the three-goal advantage. As if the tale was always going to have another twist, Australia turned the ball over and Tippett converted back-to-back goals and it was one goal the margin with 90 seconds remaining and the heart rate of everyone both at the arena and at home was sky high. Ekenasio held her nerve to slot the goal with a minute remaining, as did Bassett up the other end, but it was New Zealand who just had to maintain possession for another 40 seconds holding the one-goal lead. The Ferns raced it back to defence to try and play keepings off which they did and rejoiced with a remarkable one-goal win to take out the title, 52-51.

Folau (28 goals from 35 attempts) and Ekenasio (24 from 26) proved a formidable goal shooting combination, with Langman 20 goal assists from 38 feeds and Crampton (16 from 28) the dominant payers in the midcourt. Kopua and Watson both had two intercepts in the defensive circle, while Rore finished with an intercept and a deflection gain. For Australia, Bassett shot 35 goals from 40 attempts, with Tippett sinking all 11 of her attempts. Watson was the most prolific Australian on the court with 21 goal assists from 30 feeds, while Browne had 17 from 24. Weston overcame some first quarter mistakes to not turn it over in the remaining three terms and picked up three intercepts and two rebounds, while Wood scored five goals from six attempts in the first half, as well as eight goal assists from 11 feeds. Overall it was New Zealand’s cohesion down the court and not having a weakness with Taurua not needing to make a change on the way to the Silver Ferns celebrating the victory, and the latest Netball World Cup title.

AUSTRALIA 10 | 15 | 12 | 14 (51)
NEW ZEALAND 10 | 18 | 13 | 11 (52)

Australia:

GS | Caitlin Bassett
GA | Steph Wood
WA | Kelsey Browne
C | Liz Watson
WD | Jamie-Lee Price
GD | Jo Weston
GK | Courtney Bruce

New Zealand:

GS | Maria Folau
GA | Ameliaranne Ekenasio
WA | Gina Crampton
C | Laura Langman
WD | Katrina Rore
GD | Casey Kopua
GK | Jane Watson

BRONZE MEDAL: ENGLAND (58) defeated SOUTH AFRICA (42)

It might not have been the colour they wanted coming into the tournament, but England was able to celebrate winning a medal on home soil at the 2019 Netball World Cup. The Roses took home the Bronze Medal after a dominant 16-goal win over South Africa, their second victory over the SPAR Proteas at the tournament. They had to fight for an early lead to head into the first break two goals up, then went from strength-to-strength from there, extending the lead at each break to eventually run out fairly comfortable winners, 58-42. Helen Housby was dominant in the circle, nailing all her 29 attempts as she picked up nine goal assists from 11 feeds as well. Her partner-in-crime Jo Harten also scored 29 goals, from 34 attempts, while Serena Guthrie was back to her best with 22 goal assists from 29 feeds, as well as an intercept and a deflection. Natalie Haythornthwaite also caused headaches for the opposition, recording 19 goal assists from 30 feeds and 24 centre pass receives, whilst in defence, Geva Mentor was unstoppable under the post with a massive six rebounds, four deflections and one intercept. For the SPAR Proteas, Lenize Potgieter shot 28 goals from 32 attempts, while Maryka Holtzhausen was rather inaccurate with just 12 from 20 on the night, although she recorded nine goal assists from 11 feeds. Erin Burger was busy in the midcourt with 13 goal assists from 29 feeds, while Shadine Van der Merwe had seven deflections in the defensive half. Karla Pretorius picked up two intercepts, four deflections and a rebound to do all she could for her side.

5TH PLACE: JAMAICA (68) defeated MALAWI (50)

A dominant performance from high volume shooter Jhaniele Fowler helped Jamaica to a 68-50 win over Malawi to claim fifth spot at the 2019 Netball World Cup. The Sunshine Girls rounded out a strong carnival, only dropping two games and having the final game in control throughout to win each of the four quarters on their way to an 18-goal win. They led early racing to a 20-13 quarter time lead and whilst they were pushed through the middle part of the game, ran away in the final term to assure themselves of an impressive victory. Fowler posted a massive 53 goals from 54 attempts, while Romelda Aiken had eight from 12 as the next highest scorer. Nicole Dixon was the creative playmaker for the Sunshine Girls, picking up 28 goal assists from 40 feeds and also having a couple of deflections, while Khadijah Williams had 13 goal assists from 19 feeds. In defence, Kadie-Ann Dehaney picked up an intercept and a rebound along with five deflections, as Jodi-Ann Ward had three rebounds, an intercept and a deflection for the winners. For the Queens, Jane Chimaliro scored 25 goals from 33 attempts, also recording two intercepts and a rebound, while Joyce Mvula posted up 23 goals from 29 attempts. Takondwa Lwazi had 22 goal assists from 48 feeds, as well as an impressive four intercepts and two deflections through the midcourt, working hard with Thandie Galleta (17 goal assists, 35 feeds).

7TH PLACE: ZIMBABWE (47) defeated by UGANDA (58)

Uganda has reasserted its dominance over fellow African qualifier, Zimbabwe with an 11-goal win to claim seventh spot at the 2019 Netball World Cup. Uganda lead from the start to open up a nine-goal lead by the main break before the Gems wrestled back momentum to cut the deficit to eight by the final break. The She Cranes then regained the momentum to run out the game 13-10 in the final quarter and record ad 58-47 victory. Stella Oyella was accurate at the post for the winners, putting up 16 goals from 17 attempts, whilst having 12 goal assists and 20 feeds, teaming well with Peace Proscovia (27 goals from 33 attempts) and Mary Cholock (15 from 18) in the goal circle. Ruth Meeme was also prolific with a game-high 16 goal assists from her 19 feeds as well as two intercepts, while up the other end, Muhayimina Namuwaya had three intercepts and a rebound. For the Gems, Joice Takaidza was the dominant scorer with 30 goals from 36 attempts, while Sharon Bwanali had nine from 10, also picking up 14 goal assists from 19 feeds. Felistus Kwangwa would go close to the biggest surprise packet of the tournament, picking up another two intercepts.