Shadine van der Merwe was named Player of the Match after South Africa beat the Malawi Queens at the Superbowl in Sun City on Sunday. Picture: @Netball_SA/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG –The South African Proteas recorded their third and final victory after scourging the Malawi Queens 69-28 at the final Test of the Spar International Netball 3 Test Series at the Superbowl in Sun City on Sunday afternoon.
The Queens were fighting tooth and nail to at least win the final round of the three-Test Series after losing the other two matches to the Proteas.
The Malawians had a solid start as they went into the first stanza of the match with a fighting spirit but the South Africans were not giving them the opportunity to shine.
The Queens’ defence combination of Grace Mwafulirwa, Martha Dambo and Towera Vinkhumbo were fighting hard to block the Protea’s balls in the shooting circle and at the same time their attack unit were doing well with the supply of short and quick passes.
The Queens worked hard and saw themselves trailing by only 5 goals at the end of the first stanza (14-9).
#SPARChallenge | FULL TIME
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) November 29, 2020
Filled with PRIDE! 😍
Saving the BEST for LAST! 😄
The SPAR Proteas take the SPAR Challenge 3-0! 🤩
🇿🇦 South Africa 69-28 Malawi 🇲🇼#SPARProteas #WeAreAllIn | @My_SPAR pic.twitter.com/VHLs8bABvu
The Proteas got off a better start in the second quarter as they managed to break away from the Queens putting a comfortable gap between the two sides.
The formidable combination of goal shooter Lenize Potgieter and goal attack Lefébre Rademan should be given credit for the accurate and sterling service in the shooting circle which inflated the goal margin between the two uniforms, allowing the Proteas to close off the first half with a score of 36-16.
The South Africans continued to dominate in the third quarter and show off their quality when the visiting team ran out of steam and failed to maintain their intensity.
The Queens had to play catch-up in the championship quarter which proved to be hard as they were failing to break through the Proteas’ defence wall and score goals.
Malawi coach Peace Kaluwa rang a few changes towards the end of the third stanza hoping to enhance the Queens’ performance in the remainder of the quarter but it was not enough as the quarter ended 56-20 in favour of South Africa.
Ja! ShaSha! 🙌@ShadineVDM Player of the Match in the third SPAR Challenge test! 👏#SPARProteas #WeAreAllIn #SPARChallenge pic.twitter.com/PLZseSlFZi
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) November 29, 2020
The Malawians began to take control of the final quarter as they dished goals and frustrated the Proteas. That was however not enough for the visitors to win the match.
South Africa went into the final quarter looking to break their own scoring record of a 40 goal difference and they managed to do so and closed off the Test Series with a goal difference of 41 goals.