Australia have advanced to their ninth consecutive final at a World Cup when they narrowly beat Jamaica 57-54 in the second semifinal at the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town.
The Diamonds’ will now have a crack at their 12th World Cup crown when they face England in the final on Sunday.
It was Australia with the first centre pass and Steph Wood opening the scoreboard for her team. A mistake by Jamaica on their centre pass gave Australia another attempt at goal and the Diamonds were 2-0 up within the opening minutes of the match.
The Sunshine Girls capitalised on a few Aussie errors to even out the score. Goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler, playing in her 100th test, was a rock under the pole, remaining calm under immense pressure from the likes of Courtney Bruce.
In the Australian goal circle, Jamaica defenders Jodi-Ann Ward and Shamera Sterling didn’t give the Diamonds’ shooters any room to move. They were defending like their lives depended on it.
The first caution of the match was against Jamaica centre Nicole Dixon-Rochester for persistent contact on the edge of the Australian goal circle. In a game where the stakes were this high, it didn’t come as a surprise.
Both teams were evenly matched in the first quarter and it showed on the scoreboard as they went into the first break on 14-all.
There were no changes for either Australia or Jamaica at the start of the second quarter.
With the game remaining tight defensively, Jamaica started resorting to long lob passes into the circle for Fowler to score from. Sometimes it worked, and other times it didn’t with Australia punishing the Sunshine Girls on the loose balls.
A goal by Cara Koenen and two back-to-back goals by Wood gave Australia a two-goal lead. Then the first miss from Fowler, 5 minutes before halftime, send the ball back down the other end of the court for the world No 1 to go three up.
Australian centre Paige Hadley was given a warning for dangerous play with four minutes remaining in the second quarter. This seemed to spur on the Jamaican team and they clawed their way back to level things on the scoreboard and then overtake Australia.
The score changed hands a few more times to eventually settle on 29-all at halftime with the second semifinal also set to be a humdinger.
Before the start of the third quarter, Bruce could be seen talking and gesturing to the umpires at the side of the court. She was penalised heavily for contact in the first half of the match and was probably seeking clarification on some of the calls.
While the Jamaican team remained unchanged, for Australia Jamie-Lee Price replaced Hadley on centre.
The Sunshine Girls took some big risks with those long lob passes into their goal circle again, with the first one to Fowler going astray. That gave Australia the opportunity to turn the centre pass and go four up in the first five minutes of the quarter.
Jamaica made a few positional changes and brought fresh legs from the bench with Crystal Plummer and Nicole Dixon-Rochester getting some court time.
Australia then started edging further ahead and extended their lead to six points at one stage. They were counting on their experience as 11-time world champions to remain calm under the pressure of playing in a semifinal.
Jamaica however wasn’t done yet. With the support of a sizeable portion of the full-capacity crowd, the Sunshine Girls came back with a big surge to level matters with one minute left on the clock. Wood then sank two more attempts to give Australia a 42-40 lead at the end of the quarter.
Jamaica scored the first handful of goals at the start of the last 15 minutes of the match, to go one, and then three up in a battle that was far from over.
The second warning of the match was handed out to Jamaica goalkeeper Shamera Sterling for dangerous play.
The final 8 minutes of the match was a battle of will. The coaching staff from both teams switch players around in an attempt to break the deadlock on the scoreboard. With 5 minutes to go, Bruce made a vital steel in the Jamaica goal circle to give Australia a one-goal advantage and the next centre pass.
Australia also started slowing down the pace of the game considerably in an attempt to prevent Jamaica from gaining any advantage. Silly mistakes started creeping into the Sunshine Girls’ play and a coveted place in Sunday’s final seemed to be slipping away.
Australia held their nerve when it matter most and managed to secure yet another spot in the final of a World Cup.
Most valuable player: Courtney Bruce (Australia)
Quarter scores: 14-14 / 29-29 / 42-40 / 57-54