THE South Africa netball team lost their opening match of the Quad Series 63-27 to an experienced New Zealand side in Adelaide on Sunday.
The New Zealand Silver Ferns took an early lead in the first quarter, showing their dominance on the court. However, the Proteas kept their cool and had some very good plays on the defensive.
Vanes-Mari du Toit was on top form, making a number of crucial intercepts, and after lagging for most of the first quarter, the South Africans managed to pull it back, ending it 9-14.
In the second quarter the Silver Ferns pushed on as the Proteas struggled against their snappy, quick movement and passing on attack.
Bongiwe Msomi had a great game, finding the gaps on court, but the Proteas conceded too many penalties. The half-time score reflected the play as the Silver Ferns had doubled their score to give them a 28-14 lead.
The match seemed to degenerate from this point as the Silver Ferns took ownership of the game.
Playing out of their comfort zone, and starting to tire, the Proteas were unable to keep up in the third and the final quarter. Not enough goals were moving to the South African goal circle.
"We knew this was going to be a tough match," said Proteas coach Elize Kotze. "This has been a big learning curve for us. But we are going to take it one match at a time, and we now know that we have a lot of preparation to do before our next game."
South Africa play world No1 Australia tomorrow.
Silver Ferns outplay lagging Proteas
THE South Africa netball team lost their opening match of the Quad Series 63-27 to an experienced New Zealand side in Adelaide on Sunday.
The New Zealand Silver Ferns took an early lead in the first quarter, showing their dominance on the court. However, the Proteas kept their cool and had some very good plays on the defensive.
Vanes-Mari du Toit was on top form, making a number of crucial intercepts, and after lagging for most of the first quarter, the South Africans managed to pull it back, ending it 9-14.
In the second quarter the Silver Ferns pushed on as the Proteas struggled against their snappy, quick movement and passing on attack.
Bongiwe Msomi had a great game, finding the gaps on court, but the Proteas conceded too many penalties. The half-time score reflected the play as the Silver Ferns had doubled their score to give them a 28-14 lead.
The match seemed to degenerate from this point as the Silver Ferns took ownership of the game.
Playing out of their comfort zone, and starting to tire, the Proteas were unable to keep up in the third and the final quarter. Not enough goals were moving to the South African goal circle.
"We knew this was going to be a tough match," said Proteas coach Elize Kotze. "This has been a big learning curve for us. But we are going to take it one match at a time, and we now know that we have a lot of preparation to do before our next game."
South Africa play world No1 Australia tomorrow.
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