Netball Proteas sparkle in Diamond Challenge win against Zimbabwe

A result that was never in doubt materialised in relatively easy fashion as the South African national netball team hammered Zimbabwe 72-37 in the Spar Diamond Challenge at the University of Pretoria’s Rembrandt Hall on Wednesday.

The Spar Proteas’ second win of the challenge, after their victory over Scotland on Tuesday, left assistant coach Dumisane Chauke confident they are on course to keep the trophy at home.

“Of course as coaches we are happy with the win, but there is always something to highlight that we can improve on,” Chauke said in the post-match conference.

The ordinary fan would not necessarily have agreed with that view, the crowd enthusiastically applauding the team at the end of the match in appreciation of the showing. They were strongly supportive during the match too.

The Proteas fielded a team with five changes from the win against Scotland, with captain Bongiwe Msomi and deputy Phumza Maweni the only players retained.

Against lowly opposition, the huge changes did not seem to have had a negative affect on the team’s play as the South Africans dominated from the first whistle. They used their height advantage to great effect with goal shooter Nicole Taljaard scoring at will.

It was not surprising that they enjoyed a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. They went on the rampage in the second quarter, scoring 18 goals to Zimbabwe’s 8 for a 38-17 lead.

The match was over as a contest by then but, impressively, the Proteas continued pressing for goals even after the coaches had made changes to give the rest of the 15-member squad a run.

Young Refiloe Nketsa was impressive at centre and Chauke was pleased that their decision to give her a run proved the right one as she was voted the player of the match.

“It's good that all the 15 players have now played and we had Fifi [Nketsa] at centre to see how she fits in, and it was a great pleasure to have her there. She was tired but she still pushed herself past the plateau,” a delighted Chauke said. 

The score was 55-28 at the end of the third quarter, before the Proteas added 22 more goals in the final 15 minutes for a fantastic that effectively seals their place in Saturday’s final.

After Thursday’s rest day SA play the President’s XII on Friday.

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