Sunshine century

Dominant, clinical, ruthless, historic.

Jamaica’s start to the 2023 Netball World Cup encompassed those qualities and more as they dispatched Sri Lanka 105-25 in their Pool C opener in Cape Town, South Africa, yesterday.

Jamaica led from wire to wire not only asserting themselves to the top of Pool C, but laying down an early marker.

While some of the key players such as captain Jhaniele Fowler and goalkeeper Shamera Sterling did not start the game, the starting seven which included World Cup debutantes Crystal Plummer and Latanya Wilson ensured that there were no lingering threats throughout the game. It was something that Wilson who was named Player of the Match was encouraged by.

“It was just about the defensive unit working together. You could see on that court that we trusted each other. It’s not just about me as a player but it is the backline of the defence that actually helped me to get the player of the match,” Wilson said after the game.

HISTORIC

The result was historic in nature as the Sunshine Girls produced the 14th 100-plus goal total in the history of the tournament and the first team to do it at a World Cup eight years since Malawi did it in 2015, also against Sri Lanka.

Head coach Connie Francis said that she was pleased with the intensity of the players.

“I could see the hunger and the will to execute well. I am really impressed with them. We wanted to see the different combinations that work and also to manage the workload,” Francis said.

That workload was balanced with veteran Romelda Aiken-George who started the game and scored 33 goals with Fowler top- scoring with 42 goals, all in the second half when she came on to replace her. Rebekah Robinson and Shanice Beckford both contributed with 15 goals each.

What Francis hopes to improve is their ball security having turned the ball over 17 times compared to Sri Lanka’s 45.

“What we are really striving on improving is our turnovers. We know that we have a team that can hunt balls. So we have to know that we can take care of the ball and bring it through court without any panic,” Francis said.

Fowler stressed the importance of being in sync as the competition goes on and being adaptable when necessary.

“We wanted to go out there and practise some of our strategies, making sure that we are cementing all the plays. We want to make sure that are gelling as a team and we go out there and stick to the game plan and if necessary, we will change it up. But we will take it one game at a time,” Fowler said.

Jamaica continue their campaign against Wales early this morning and will face host nation South Africa tomorrow at 11 a.m. Jamaica time. The Proteas won their opener yesterday defeating Wales 61-50.

daniel wheeler@gleanerjm.com

Yesterday’s Results

Pool A

Australia 86 Zimbabwe 30

Tonga 56 Fiji 51

Pool B

England 90 Barbados 29

Malawi 55 Scotland 49

Pool C

Jamaica 105 Sri Lanka 25

South Africa 61 Wales 50

Pool D

New Zealand 76 Trinidad and Tobago 27

Uganda 79 Singapore 37