England clinched the netball Spar Challenge series with a convincing 65-40 victory in the second Test at the Bellville Velodrome on Saturday evening.
The match started three hours late because of problems with the sprung wooden floor, but far from giving the home side a spring in their step, the South Africans looked flat-footed throughout much of the game.
As in the first Test in Johannesburg on Wednesday, South Africa scored the first goal, but England replied immediately with three quick goals and retained the lead for the rest of the match. South Africa were only two goals behind at the end of the first quarter, but the margin increased every quarter after that.
England led 29-21 at half-time, and 50-32 at the end of the third quarter.
The South African passing looked sloppy and reckless at times, while England looked like a well-oiled machine. Their goal-shooter Rachel Dunn, who had an indifferent game in the first Test, had an outstanding match, scoring almost every time she received the ball in the circle.
Another outstanding player for England was wing attack Karen Atkinson, who was named player of the match.
One of the better South African players was Nonhle Gwavu, who came on as goalkeeper in the third quarter, and goal-shooter Sindi Gumede also had a good match.
”We played an amateurish game, and England outplayed us in all areas,” said South African coach Marlene Wagner. ”We’ll have to work much harder if we are going to compete with a team like England. We need to work at holding them, and we have to find ways of reducing the difference in goals.”
”We have a strategy, but it didn’t seem to work tonight,” said South African captain Nthabiseng Moabi. ”We’ll have to find ways of communicating better on the court.”
The English coach, Marg Caldow, said she is delighted that her team won the series, and intends to ensure that the goal difference is even bigger in the third Test.
”The accuracy of our shooters was better tonight, but I think we should have scored even more goals,” she said. — Sapa