Australia recorded the tournament’s highest score so far, South Africa toppled Jamaica, and Zimbabwe edged out Northern Ireland in a thrilling contest as session 6 at the Vitality Netball World Cup delivered no shortage of drama.
The Diamonds fell one short of the tournament’s first century as they dismantled Sri Lanka 99-24, but the majority of the fireworks came later on in the day, as two astonishing matches in Liverpool added to a supreme day of sporting tension across the country.
Northern Ireland led by as many as four goals at one stage against Zimbabwe, but a crucial turnover in possession with the scores at 49-49 gave Zimbabwe the chance to edge ahead with just 80 seconds left. It was a chance they gladly took, eventually wrapping up a 51-49 victory.
There was a similarly tense finish in the clash between South Africa and Jamaica, where the Proteas shocked the world’s number two-ranked side 55-52.
Trinidad and Tobago won the day’s final game, defeating Fiji 67-56.
Results from session 6 matches:
Australia 99-24 Sri Lanka (Group A)
Jamaica 52-55 South Africa (Group C)
Northern Ireland 49-51 Zimbabwe (Group A)
Trinidad and Tobago 67-56 Fiji (Group C)
The final preliminaries stage 1 group tables are available here.
Upcoming:
Tomorrow sees the start of the second phase of the competition – preliminaries stage 2. Today’s results decided the schedule for tomorrow’s fixtures, which are available here. Day 4 will begin with Zimbabwe taking on New Zealand, while – as the day progresses – Australia face Barbados, South Africa play Scotland, and England and Jamaica meet in a mouth-watering clash at 3pm.
Courtesy of Netball World Cup
