The Proteas Netball team bared their teeth in their opening World Cup match against Trinidad and Tobago romping to a 76-45 victory in Liverpool on Friday evening.
The match was evenly poised in the first quarter with the South Africans managing to get their noses in front taking a four-point into the second period.
The Proteas turned up the pressure with the dangerous trio of Erin Burger, Bongi Msomi and Maryka Holtzhausen creating chaos for the Islanders. Slick passing into circle provided the shooters with a plethora of opportunities.
Goal shooter Lenize Potgieter and Holtzhausen relished the chances at goal and hardly missing a beat with some metronomic shooting.
South Africa extended the lead to a 14-point advantage going into the half-time break with Trinidad and Tobago looking to stanch the bleeding.
But the Proteas had no intention to reduce the intensity as they placed the runaway train on autopilot.
The third quarter compounded Trinidad and Tobago’s problems with South African extending the advantage to 22 points (56-34) going into the final period.
Proteas coach Norma Plummer introduced Sigi Burger onto the court in place of Potgieter, who bowed out of the match with an impressive 98 percent shooting record. Izette Griesel was handed the wing attack bib with Msomi to centre in place of Burger. The changes allowed some of the debutantes to get rid of their nerves.
South Africa added 20 more points in the last quarter to extend their lead to 31 points for a dominant display. The Proteas will next face Fiji on Saturday evening.
@ockertde
IOL Sport
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