Spar Proteas clinch Diamond Challenge
Image: Reg Caldecott/Gallo Images
The South African national netball team survived a second quarter scare to eventually overcome Scotland 54-36 and win the Spar Diamond Challenge at the University of Pretoria's Rembrandt Hall.
Coach Norma Plummer's team rushed to a 10-8 lead in the first quarter and looked to be well on their way to a second victory over the Scots this week when they got to 13-12 in the second quarter.
But the Thistles turned up the heat with some fantastic passing to go into the lead to silence the partisan local crowd that had been cheering every move by the South Africans.
The Scots kept up a two-goal lead for a while in that quarter, getting up to an 18-16 advantage as they threatened to exact revenge for the 61-42 defeat they suffered on Wednesday.
But Bongiwe Msomi and her teammates recovered their rhythm to take control of the match again and ended up winning the quarter 24-20.
The third quarter was a little tight but the locals still dominated as they outscored their adversaries 11-8 for a 35-28 lead.
To cheers and chants from the crowd, the Proteas played fantastic netball in the final quarter as they showed off not only their passing abilities but their defensive prowess as they repeatedly blocked most attempts by Scotland.
They scored almost every time they went on an attack and it was not surprising that they netted 19 times to the opposition's 8.
Plummer would have been pleased with her team's showing given that she had made three changes to the team that beat Scotland on Wednesday.
The veteran Australian coach had said after the opening match that she was not pleased with the team's showing and would not give them a 6 out of 10.
There was definitely some improvement on that this time around and as they go into the festive break ahead of next year's World Cup, the Spar Proteas will no doubt be infused with some confidence that they can take on the world's best and be competitive.
And they have the opportunity to test themselves before the global showpiece that will take place in Cape Town in July and August with the Quad Series in January.