2019 Netball World Cup: Zimbabwe earns historic win, Malawi loses

July 12, 2019 Village Reporter

Uganda, South Africa raring to go

Uganda’s She Cranes and South Africa’s Proteas will also be in action on Friday, as they take on England and Trinidad&Tobago respectively.

Uganda and hosts England are in Group D along with Scotland and Samoa, while South Africa also faces Jamaica and Fiji in Group C.

Malawi loses to New Zealand

The Malawi Queens put up a brave performance but eventually succumbed to New Zealand’s Sliver Ferns, by a scoreline of 64-45.

The action from Group B also saw Barbados kick off its World Cup campaign with an impressive 69-34 win over Singapore.

New Zealand take on Barbados tomorrow Saturday, while Malawi will hope for better results in their fixture against Singapore.

Zimbabwe’s historic win

Zimbabwe has made history, winning their first ever match at the Netball World Cup. The Gems won their match against Sri Lanka by 79-49, kicking off what could be a thrilling journey.

‘‘I have goosebumps, this is a dream come true! We didn’t know we had so many people supporting Zimbabwe, to see the whole arena supporting us like that was so exciting, said Zimbabwe goal shooter Joice Takaidza.

Zimbabwe is one of four African teams at the tournament that is being hosted in Liverpool, England. The others are Malawi, Uganda and South Africa.

The Zimbabwe Gems are in Group A, along with reigning champions Australia and Northern Ireland.

‘‘Zimbabwe are something of an unknown quality and will look to capitalise on that against higher ranked teams,’‘ Africanews correspondent, Yvonnie Akonda Sundu told us ahead of the tournament.

In the other Group A game, Australia were leading Northern Ireland at halftime by 45-15. The game eventually ended 88-24 in favour of the Australia diamonds.