South Africa ended their 2023 Netball World Cup preliminaries stage one campaign with a 67-49 defeat by a dominant Jamaica at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Sunday.
The Jamaicans were in control for the better part of the contest as they made the evening difficult for Norma Plummer’s ladies, who finished second in Pool C.
The Spar Proteas will now move to Pool G in the preliminaries stage two where they seek to pick themselves up.
At stake were bragging rights about who closes off this stage on top of their pool and Jamaica came out the best.
The Caribbean side already boasted a solid defence going into the match and it gave them an edge over the Spar Proteas.
Early nerves could be seen from both teams, but it was the Sunshine Girls who scored first as they displayed place and precision on the court from the start.
South Africa came back to briefly overtake their opponents before Jamaica reclaimed their lead towards the end of the first quarter.
The Spar Proteas defensive unit was not allowing the Jamaicans to fully have their game and did well to limit the damage, although goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler proved to be a handful for them.
A 16-12 lead by the Commonwealth Games silver medallists at the end of the first quarter set them on a winning path as the hosts struggled to come back.
South Africa captain Bongi Msomi was quiet, and it looked like the Jamaicans had studied her well.
The introduction of goal attack Nichole Taljaard was effective as she applied the pressure but the Sunshine Girls were leading 32-26 by the halfway mark and enjoyed an upper hand in attack.
Plummer’s side was undone by a high turnover of 13 which proved costly and let down goal shooter Lenize Potgieter’s effort of 15 goals from 15 attempts by halftime.
A bruising third quarter left South Africa trailing by 23 goals as the Caribbeans had put the game beyond their reach.
Player of the match Jodi-Ann Ward’s switch from wing defence to goal defence tightened things for South Africa and gave them few chances.
The hosts returned for the final quarter looking for solutions trying to get back, but only managed to slightly reduce the margin.