Proteas, NZ in thrilling draw at Netball World Cup

In the other matches of the day at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Jamaica claimed an emphatic victory over Trinidad and Tobago.

This is while Sri Lanka also earned their first win of the tournament by defeating Barbados.

The draw in Pool G now means there is still a chance of progressing to the semifinal. For this to happen, Jamaica would have to beat New Zealand on Thursday while South Africa would have to do the same against Uganda. 

The final 15 minutes of the thrilling match saw the Proteas throw everything at the Silver Ferns. 

Proteas captain Bongiwe Msomi says she told the girls at halftime that New Zealand would make changes, but that they shouldn’t worry about that.

“We believed that we could put up a great performance. It would have been great if it was a win, but we will take the draw. I’ve been with the girls for a long time. 

We’ve worked really hard to get in such positions and a few times we’ve let ourselves down. There’s so much pride to see them step up and play good netball.

 For me to be a part of that, it’s fantastic," says Msomi.

Meanwhile, Proteas coach Norma Plummer said Thursday’s match against Uganda will be a different story.

“Uganda has been playing really well at this World Cup. They have a totally different style of play, different from what we had today, and we have to work around that. Hopefully, we can challenge them right to the end of the match,” she said.

Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua praised the performance of both teams.

“It always comes down to certain moments that happen. We also had ball in hand and that last 30 seconds, we probably could have drained the clock. 

"When you look at the stats, our stats are actually not that bad, we had 55 per cent of the ball and our shooting percentage was 90 per cent compared to their 76 per cent. 

"We have to take the draw on the chin.”

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