By Michael Madyira
South Africa put up a commanding display to dismiss Sri Lanka 87-32 in their second 2023 Netball World Cup preliminary stage Pool C match at Cape Town International Convention Centre on Saturday.
It was a follow-up victory by Norma Plummer’s ladies to Friday’s convincing win over Wales.
Plummer had the comfort to rest some of her key players like Ine-Mari Venter and Khanyisa Chawane who started from the bench.
On an afternoon they were ruthless from the beginning to the end, the SPAR Proteas goal shooter Elmere van der Berg was clinical and by halftime, she had converted 28 goals off 31 attempts.
South Africa already had nine goals in just under nine minutes and by the first quarter, they had raced to a 15-goal lead.
It was one-way traffic for the SPAR Proteas who thrived on intercepting Sri Lanka, especially in thwarting passes to Tharjini Sivalingam, the tallest player at the tournament and was the 2019 World Cup’s top-scorer.
A great combination in defence between Jeante Strydom and Shadine van der Merve plus some mid-court speed kept South Africa going and by halftime, they were leading 45-18.
Sri Lanka was sitting high on turnovers at halftime and their shooting accuracy was encouraging although they were undone by a solid South African defence.
The SPAR Proteas’ fluent run continued in the second half while focused on limiting errors and getting more ball movement with Nichole Taljaard effective with her mid-range shots.
A 68-24 lead by the end of the quarter had already sapped out Sri Lanka’s morale even after trying to change their style of play to a more defensive approach.
Having maintained their dominance and consistency as well as beautiful lay-ups, it was a perfect outing for the SPAR Proteas.
It was also spiced on a day Karla Pretorius recorded her 100th international cap and Venter who was playing her 50th international.
Pictured above: South Africa vs Sri Lanka
Image source: Netball South Africa
