Hosts South Africa and defending world champions New Zealand produced the match of the Netball World Cup 2023 so far on Wednesday evening, playing out to a thrilling 48-all draw in Cape Town.
The Proteas kept their slim hopes of reaching the Netball World Cup 2023 semifinals alive with a spirited performance against the Silver Ferns at a packed CTICC.
With the raucous local crowd effectively an extra member of the team, the Proteas came close to beating the Silver Ferns for only the second time in World Cup history.
The draw in Pool G now means there is still a chance of progressing to the semifinal.
For this to happen, Jamaica would have to beat New Zealand on Thursday while South Africa would have to do the same against Uganda.
Goal percentage could prove problematic for the Proteas, however.
Jamaica leads Group G with 8 points, with New Zealand in second place on 7 points. South Africa is in third place with 5 points, and Uganda in 4th place with 4 points.
Goal attack Nichole Taljaard earned her second Most Valuable Player award of the tournament. It was her shot, with three seconds left in the match, that drew the scores level. Taljaard had an outstanding match, occupying the space in the goal circle well with her ability to shoot from further away a distinct advantage. She also remained calm under the massive pressure of facing the reigning world champions.
South Africa put in a huge defensive effort in the first half of the match egged on by the deafening shouts of “defence, defence” by the South African spectators in the stands. Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua started ringing in the changes with the game a tightly contested affair.
Jane Watson came on in the place of Kelly Jury at goalkeeper in an attempt to stop the ball from moving into the South African goal circle. South African-born Karin Burger was moved from wing attack to goal defence to cover Taljaard. For South Africa, Elmeré van der Berg replaced Venter under the pole.
New Zealand had edged 26-21 ahead by halftime.
Khanyisa Chawane took over from Bongi Msomi at centre at the start of the third quarter, a period of play where South Africa traditionally lost games they should’ve won. In their game against Jamaica, the Proteas scored only three goals in the third quarter, and then outscored the Sunshine Girls 20-15 in the last 15 minutes of the match. This time around however, the Proteas produced an outstanding performance in the third period, winning it 13-12 to only be four goals adrift.
The final 15 minutes of the thrilling match saw the Proteas throw everything at the Silver Ferns. Defenders Phumza Maweni and Karla Pretorius made several brilliant steels on the one end while Van der Berg and Taljaard kept the scoreboard ticking at the other. Nicola Smith then joined the fray.
With four minutes left on the clock, South Africa needed three goals to pull off something special and the atmosphere at the CTICC reached fever pitch. The ball was fed to Taljaard and she made sure to sink what must probably be the most important goal of her career.
Proteas captain Msomi said she told the girls at halftime that New Zealand would make changes, but that they shouldn’t worry about that.
“We believed that we could put up a great performance. It would have been great if it was a win, but we will take the draw. I’ve been with the girls for a long time. We’ve worked really hard to get in such positions and a few times we’ve let ourselves down. There’s so much pride to see them step up and play good netball. For me to be a part of that, it’s fantastic.”
🗣️ The words from Phumza after that match 🌟 "I don't know how to describe it, it's fantastic." 🇿🇦🆚🇳🇿
#SPARProteas | #NWC2023 | #PutYourHandsUp pic.twitter.com/Fr2gpVLtqi— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) August 3, 2023
Proteas coach Norma Plummer said Thursday’s match against Uganda will be a different story.
“Uganda has been playing really well at this World Cup. They have a totally different style of play, different from what we had today, and we have to work around that. Hopefully we can challenge them right to the end of the match,” she said.
𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁
🇿🇦🆚🇳🇿"I think the youngsters we brought on really stepped up and did the business for us on the day. I mean look at Nichole who earned her second MVP in two games." – Normal Plummer
👉 https://t.co/osAYIteoXI#SPARProteas | #NWC2023 pic.twitter.com/UnEzVhs2I1
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) August 3, 2023
New Zealand coach Noeline Taurua praised the performance of both teams.
“It always comes down to certain moments that happen. We also had ball in hand and that last 30 seconds, we probably could have drained the clock. When you look at the stats, our stats are actually not that bad, we had 55 per cent of the ball and our shooting percentage was 90 per cent compared to their 76 per cent. We have to take the draw on the chin.”
In the other matches of the day, Jamaica claimed an emphatic victory over Trinidad and Tobago while Sri Lanka earned their first win of the tournament by defeating Barbados.
