By Eugene Majuru
World number one netball team Australia’s Diamonds were given a tough time by Zimbabwe’s Zimgems who are featuring for a historic first time in the Worldcup tournament which commenced in Liverpool on Friday.
ustralia won by 73 goals to 37. Zimgems the underdogs of the competition took off with a slow start as Australia took an early lead. The first two quarters displayed a lot of nervous play but settled by the time they went into the second half.
Australia’s Caitlin Bassett who played goal Shooter made great use of her height with shots on target.
In the second half Zimbabwe came back with more confidence and speed as they continued to show Australia even though they were underdogs they were not to be underestimated.
Joice Takaidza the goal shooter missed a few goals compared to yesterday’s game where she scored over 30 goals. She was impressive in the game and displayed her skillfulness.
“There was too much hand contact from Australia, when the game started we were a bit nervous at playing the champions but we settled well into the game” said Takaidza.
Zimgems vs Australia world up game
Australia’s team captain showed a high level of frustration as they never expected Zimbabwe to play to high standards.
“It was a physical match,” she said. “The players that were out there felt it, and it’s a good practice for us for later rounds. “I think they took advantage of their smaller stature. They used a lot of bounce passes and got around the body really well, which is something we had a talk about at half-time, but it was hard to put the high ball in because they had really long reach. We got there in the end.”
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