South Africa got their Netball World Cup off to a winning start as they beat Wales 61-50 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday evening.
At a bouncing CTICC, the Proteas couldn’t hold back the tears as the magnitude of the event sank in. The crowd were also in full voice, firing the team up for their first game of the tournament.
Not long after Khanyisa Chawane got the game going, Ina Marie Venter put the first points on the board for the home side.
A skilful intercept in the 8th minute of the first quarter saw some superb passing from South Africa, which lead to Venter adding more valuable points to the scoreboard.
The combination of Venter and Elmere’ van der Berg just kept on giving as the Proteas began to build up a healthy lead. Wales, though, showed they also came to play as they gave the South African defenders some work as the game went on.
Coach Norma Plummer made some wholesale changes in the third quarter, bringing in the fresh legs of goal attack Nicola Smith and wing defender Jeante’ Strydom as the Proteas looked to exert their dominance.
🇿🇦🆚🏴
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) July 28, 2023
Game 1⃣ is in the bag! 💪
Victory for South Africa over Wales (their 20th win) in their opening 𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗖 match at the 2023 Netball World Cup! 👏#SPARProteas | #NWC2023 pic.twitter.com/bSF4yTS6zY
Some mistakes from the home team saw momentum briefly swing Wales’ way, but that did not last long as Venter was able to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Despite the intensity by Wales, South Africa were able to keep their noses in front as the game entered the final stages.
Q4 started rather slowly for the Proteas, but they managed to stay ahead, and even increased their lead in the process.
🇿🇦🆚🏴
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) July 28, 2023
𝗣𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗖 - 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 1⃣
𝗤𝟯
Keeping it tight on defense and skillfully finding clever gaps, the SPAR Proteas stretch their lead to 10 goals. One more quarter left. 👏
SOUTH AFRICA 47
WALES 37#SPARProteas | #NWC2023 pic.twitter.com/UT3TqxTZV3
In the end, South Africa managed to hold on for a convincing win in their opener, and will be hoping to take their momentum into their second game, against Sri Lanka on Saturday afternoon.
IOL Sport