Face of Nation : Australia are one win away from a 12th Netball World Cup triumph after seeing off a spirited South Africa side in an enthralling semi-final in Liverpool on Saturday.
The Diamonds, who ran out 55-53 winners, were made to fight all the way by the Norma Plummer-coached Proteas who were looking to reach the final for the second time in their history.Lisa Alexander’s side will now face either New Zealand or hosts England in Sunday’s decider.
Alexander made five changes to the side that edged out the Silver Ferns on Friday with skipper Caitlin Bassett and Steph Wood dropped to the bench as Caitlin Thwaites and Gretel Tippett filled the goal shooter and goal attack roles.
South Africa started strongly in a keenly-contested opening quarter, as both sides turned the ball over regularly in the opening exchanges. The Proteas were made to pay for missed chances from under the hoop by Lenize Potgieter as the Diamonds scored two quickfire goals to open up a 14-10 lead at the start of the second stanza.
The Diamonds slowly started to exert some dominance with Tippett causing South Africa all sorts of problems in the attacking third of the court as they stretched their advantage to 31-23 at halftime. However, Plummer’s message to her players during the interval had the desired effect as the Proteas won the third quarter to close the gap to 43-39 going into the final 15 minutes.
