South Africa beat Calypso Girls in opener

DESPITE a valiant effort, TT netball team, dubbed the ‘Calypso Girls’ got off to a losing start in Group C at the Vitality Netball World Cup Liverpool 2019, at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, on Friday, falling 76-45 to world number-five ranked South Africa.

In the end, the Proteas recorded a comfortable victory, after outscoring the 10th-ranked Caribbean outfit, 40-26, at half time.

South Africa’s goal-shoot Lenize Potgieter was named player of the match, scoring a remarkable 42 goals from 43 attempts, while Sigrid Burger, also a goal-shoot got 16/18 and goal-attack Maryka Holtzhausen added 18/22.

TT goal-shoot Samantha Wallace scored 28 from 30, followed by substitute Kalifa McCollin, who added 11/14, and goal-attack Jameela McCarthy, who finished on 6/7.

Both Wallace and McCarthy obtained the best scoring average per attempt in the match, with 93 and 86 per cent, respectively. However, TT failed to create sufficient opportunities to properly test South Africa.

TT were very much in the match at the end of the first quarter, trailing 19-15, before South Africa enjoyed their best spell in the second period, outscoring the TT team 21-11.

Meanwhile, Jamaica – the world’s number-three – shot to the top of the Group C standings with a resounding 85-29 win over Fiji, with goal-shoot Jhaniele Fowler starring on a 33-point high off 35 attempts. Goal-attack Romelda Aiken and Rebekah Robinson made contributions of 33/35 and 26/36 for Jamaica.

At the end of yesterday’s Group C opener, Jamaica closed in first place, with South Africa, TT and Fiji, trailing from second to fourth, respectively.

TT will resume action against arch-rivals Jamaica at the same venue today, while South Africa takes on Fiji in the other match.

TT will meet Fiji in their third and final Group C match tomorrow, as Jamaica face off with South Africa.