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Diamonds pipped by England at netball World Cup

3 minute read

Australia and NZ lost on the last day of preliminary play at the netball World Cup, with the Diamonds to face Jamaica in the semis after going down to England.

AMELIARANNE EKENASIO of New Zealand during the Vitality Netball World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
AMELIARANNE EKENASIO of New Zealand during the Vitality Netball World Cup match between Australia and New Zealand at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Picture: Emma Simpson/Getty Images

Australia will face Jamaica in the netball World Cup semi-finals after tow huge upsets on the final day of preliminary play, with the Diamonds and New Zealand both losing in Cape Town.

World No.1 Australia were beaten 56-55 by third-ranked England, the Roses' first win in 14 World Cup games against the Diamonds.

A couple of hours later, fourth-ranked Jamaica notched their first ever World Cup win in 12 matches against defending champions New Zealand, the 59-48 score representing the Silver Ferns' biggest ever loss in the tournament.

England and Jamaica topped their respective pools with the Roses set to play New Zealand in the other semi-final, unless South Africa score an unlikely massive win over Uganda early Friday (AEST).

England outscored the Diamonds in three of the four quarters, with Australia not hitting the front until almost seven minutes into the second term.

The Roses led 13-8, but were six behind at halftime and eight goals down in the third quarter.

Eleanor Cardwell hit the go-ahead goal with 47 seconds to go and England regained possession with 23 seconds left and held it for the remainder of the game, pouncing on a wayward pass from Diamonds goal attack Kiera Austin.

Tremendous pressure at the start and the end of the match, and nerveless shooting from Super Netball stars Cardwell and Helen Housby were big factors in their win.

Thunderbirds title-winner Cardwell made 34 of 35 shots and Swifts superstar, and player of the match, Housby landed all 22 of her attempts, as well as notching a team-leading 12 goal assists.

Cara Koenen was a reliable target for Australia with 32 from 34 attempts, with Steph Wood making 19 off 22 and Austin four from five.

"Probably the most disappointing thing is not necessarily we lost, but just how we played towards the back end of that game," Diamonds captain and wing attack Liz Watson said.

England coach Jess Thirlby made an extraordinary 22 changes during the game and the introduction of midcourt veterans Jade Clarke and Chelsea Pittman after halftime added more bite to the Roses, who trailed 42-34 in the third quarter.

"There was a lot of momentum shifts throughout the game and they played a really aggressive style that made us stop-start in the way we wanted to play," Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich said.

England capitalised on a couple of unforced errors and seven straight goals got them to within one heading into the last quarter, where they outscored Australia 12-10.

Jamaica's superstar shooter Jhaniele Fowler made all 49 of her attempts against New Zealand.

The Caribbean nation beat Australia in pool play at last year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but the Diamonds won when they met again in the gold medal match.

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