Six unanswered goals in the final five minutes saw England beat defending champions New Zealand 46-40 in the first semifinal of the Netball World Cup 2023 in Cape Town.
The Roses’ appearance in Sunday’s final now means that they are only the fourth team behind New Zealand, Australia and South Africa to advance to the final in the history of the World Cup.
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The first 15 minutes of the match was a tight affair with both teams appearing nervous and tentative, leading to silly mistakes like stepping and handling. There were several turnovers resulting in the lead changing hands on a couple of occasions.
English defenders Layla Guscoth and Geva Mentor put great pressure on the New Zealand circle with the Silver Ferns’ attacking players struggling to feed quality ball to shooters Maia Wilson and Ameliaranne Ekenasio.
The Silver Ferns managed to edge ahead when South African-born Karin Burger intercepted an English centre pass and run it down to her own goal circle. The game was on.
England, in a rush to get the ball back to the other end of the court, overcooked a pass to goal shooter Eleanor Cardwell and back it went for the defending world champions to add another goal to their now-growing tally (8-5).
A brilliant intercept by Mentor in the New Zealand goal circle and a couple of unanswered goals by England’s Cardwell and goal attack Helen Housby took the score to 9-all after the first quarter.
The same starting seven returned for both teams at the start of the second quarter.
The Roses took control of the opening minutes with Housby landing two quick goals to make it 11-9 for England.
New Zealand started playing with a sense of urgency, moving the ball down court with speed and trying to outrun and outplay their opponents. England were however not to be outdone and kept up with the fast pace, picking up a few loose balls in the process. The Silver Ferns were making far too many errors while Guscoth and Mentor had the New Zealand shooters well and truly covered.
Wilson scored for New Zealand on the stroke of halftime to make matters level at 20-all and the players headed to the change rooms with a place in the World Cup final still ripe for the picking.
In the first changes for both teams, Jade Clarke came on for Imogen Allison on centre at the start of the third quarter for England. New Zealand remained unchanged.
New Zealand missed their first goal of the match, and an opportunity to get the lead, when Ameliaranne Ekenasio failed to land her eight attempt at the start of the third quarter.
In the final five minutes, Francesca Williams took over from Guscoth as English goal defence.
A tip by Silver Ferns goalkeeper Kelly Jury stole vital possession from England and New Zealand went ahead by two. England however made sure to get the ball to their goal circle before the quarter ran out and two goals by Housby saw matters still level at 32-all.
The same seven who started the match for the Silver Ferns came out for the final 15 minutes again.
England shooter Cardwell copped a caution with ten minutes to go and the ball was turned down the court towards the New Zealand goal circle where Wilson continued her unblemished shooting record.
With three minutes left on the clock and leading by three goals, England were on course to create history. An exceptional deflection by England centre C Imogen Allison effectively dashed New Zealand’s hopes of defending their title won four years ago in Liverpool.
When the final whistle went, the scoreboard read 46-40 and the England players collapsed while the bench stormed on court in jubilation.
Most Valuable Player: Francesca Williams (England)
Quarter scores: 9-9 / 20-20 / 32-32 / 46-40