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2019 Netball World Cup group stage: Australia vs Zimbabwe |
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Venue: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, England | ||
Match time: Fulltime | ||
Australia | Sri Lanka | |
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99 | SCORE | 24 |
19 | Q1 | 6 |
28 | Q2 | 9 |
28 | Q3 | 7 |
24 | Q4 | 2 |
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The Australian Diamonds will wrap-up the preliminary stages of their World Cup defence by taking on Sri Lanka. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of what promises to be a thrilling match starting from midnight (AEST) on Monday morning.
Whilst this is David against Goliath in the netball world and the Diamonds are clear, clear favourites, they will want a faultless performance to build momentum into the tougher next stages of the tournament.
The Diamonds have been progressing well in their opening two games. Both have easy victories on the scoreboard and so the focus has very much been on the quality of their performance. Against Northern Ireland they were crisp and effective.
Against Zimbabwe, they were effective for sure but there have been some comments that suggest they’ll have been frustrated with some of their passages of play. The accuracy of their game was below their usual high standards and they will be wanting to sharpen up in this match.
We’ll be looking to Caitlin Bassett to set the tone as captain and she’ll be wanting a scoring percentage as close to perfect as possible. Her experience from the 2011 and 2015 World Cups will become more and more valuable later in the tournament but the team will still look to her in this easier game to set the example.
The Diamonds defence was in a mean mood in the final quarter against Zimbabwe and they’ll be wanting to maintain that standard for the whole game against Sri Lanka. Also look for a good game from centre Liz Watson who will be key in the later stages as the Diamonds look to control key games.
For Sri Lanka this match is about testing themselves and enjoying being on the big stage with the world’s best. They’ve lost both their first two games against Zimbabwe and Northern Ireland and no one is expecting anything different in this match.
What will be interesting though is to see if they can put together some passages of play where they can take control from Diamonds. If the Lankans try to match the speed of the Diamonds then they will struggle so they will need to find their own rhythm and play to their strengths.
These strengths include getting the ball to six feet 10 inches tall shooter, Tharjini Sivalingam. In the 2018 Asian Championships she had a goal accuracy of 93 per cent and if she can replicate that against the Australians than that will help her team no end.
Keep an eye out for wing attack Gayanjali Amarawansa too. Despite her relative youth – she’s just 24 years old – she’s already played 32 times for the national side and has become known as an exciting and effective wing attack. Her ability to feed Sivalingam with good ball will be key for the Sri Lankans.
Prediction
There’s no way this isn’t a win for the Diamonds so the key is that they deliver a comprehensive performance.
Australia by 50.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of what promises to be a thrilling match starting from midnight AEDT on Monday morning.
Where: M&S Bank Arena, Court 1, Liverpool, England
Date: Monday 15th July 2019
When: 12am (AEST)
TV: Channel 9
Australia Diamonds
Caitlin Bassett (c), April Brandley, Kelsey Browne, Courtney Bruce, Paige Hadley, Sarah Klau, Jamie-Lee Price, Caitlin Thwaites, Gretel Tippett, Liz Watson, Jo Weston, Steph Wood
Sri Lanka
Chathurangi Jayasooriya, Deepika Abeykoon, Dharshika Abeywickrema, Dulanga Ambeygoda, Dulangi Wannithileka, Elilenthinie Sethukavalar, Gayani Dissanayake, Gayanjali Amarawansa, Hasitha Mendis, Nauchalee Rajapakse, Tharjini Sivalingam, Thilini Waththegedera
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