
The Proteas fell painstakingly short of upsetting defending champion Australia suffering a heartbreaking 55-53 defeat in their Netball World Cup semi-final in Liverpool on Saturday.
South Africa was looking for their first victory over the 11-time champions in the 40th meeting between the sides.
It was a real battle of attrition with the sides playing tit-for-tat in the opening minutes of the encounter.
The Australian Diamonds edged ahead of the South Africans that conceded too may turnovers to provide the world number one side with enough ammunition to cause damage.
And that is exactly what they did with their sharp-shooting attackers hardly missing a beat inside the circle. The Aussie shooting duo of Gretel Tippett and Caitlin Thwaites boasted a remarkable 100 percent success record after three quarters.