By Netball South Africa.
Cape Town, South Africa – Match 18 of the 2019 Africa Netball Cup saw Lesotho face off with Zambia. Lesotho come into this game with five losses. The team has lost all their games however they have shown great progress and improvement from day one to day five. In the second quarter, they really took the game to Zambia and committed more. The difference was that they didn’t convert the many chances they created and as a results Zambia registered they second win of the tournament.
Zambia who had played four games leading to the last day of the Africa Netball Cup had managed only one win and three losses in their four matches. Zambia are yet to face the on form SPAR Proteas in the final game of the tournament later in the afternoon. Their 68 -32 win against Lesotho will be a huge confidence booster leading into their game against South Africa.
Game 19 was a match between world ranked number seven Malawi taking on 14th ranked Zimbabwe in both teams’ final matches of the tournament. Malawi have only suffered a solitary loss and managed four wins, they are second on the log behind South Africa and the Gems of Zimbabwe three wins and two losses in their 5 matches.
It was Malawi who went off the mark first and converted their chance seconds after centre pass. Historically, Zimbabwe has always enjoyed great support on the stands however for this game it was the Malawian fans that had the loudest voices. At the end it was Malawi who pulled through with maximum points winning 71 – 46.
The final match of the day and tournament saw South Africa who have been unbeaten in this tournament take on Malawi. Both teams came into this tournament high in confidence with Zambia having had won their earlier game against Lesotho and South Africa unbeaten in this tournament thus far.
Sparks were expected to fly in this game, as one would have anticipated that is what happened. SPAR Proteas started the game like a team on a mission and this was evident in how they approached the match. They were quick off the mark and drew first blood just as the game started, one could get a sense that Zambia were prepared to give as much as they got. At the end of the quarter, it was South Africa who led 17 – 12.
The start of the second quarters was just intense, at the end of the second quarter Zambia had scored 13 points against 14 of South Africa and the game into half time with the SPAR Proteas leading 31 – 25. South Africa continued their dominance in the third quarter and cemented their place and ensured that they are in pole position to win the coveted that had eluded them for a decade.
This was a dream start for the dynamic coaching duo of Dumisani Chauke and Dorette Badenhorst who had just been appointed 21 days before the tournament started. Winning any silverware with just three weeks in the job is what every coach would like to have.
Shopping giant SPAR who are the sponsors of the South African National Netball team have pledged R10 000 per player including the management team when they win the 2019 Africa Netball Cup. The game ended with SPAR Proteas winning 72 – 53 against Zambia and crowned the Champions of the 2019 Africa Netball Cup.
The following players got the following awards at the end of the tournament:
Best Centre Court Player – Takondwa Lwazi from Malawi
Best Accurate Shooter – Beauty Nakazwe from Zambia
Most Valuable Player – Mary Cholhok from Uganda
#AfricaNetballCup #SPARProteas #WeAreAllIn
My SPAR
Comments
About Author
