Clinical Proteas sweep Zimbabwe aside to reach Africa Netball Cup final

The Spar Proteas surged into the final of the Africa Netball Cup with a comprehensive 85-32 victory over Zimbabwe at Griffin Saenda Sports Complex in Lilongwe, Malawi, on Saturday afternoon and setting up a final against arch-rivals Uganda.

The gulf in class between coach Jenny van Dyk’s defending champions and Zimbabwe was again evident from the first centre pass, as they flew into an 18-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, and led 40-16 by the half-time break. The match was all but over as a contest at that stage but the Proteas continued to press home their advantage to run out comfortable winners, even in the face of a number of substitutions. 

Elemaré van den Berg was restored to her starting role at goal shooter, and her combination with goal attack Owethu Ngubane proved too much for the smaller Zimbabwe defenders to handle. They were clinical with their shots at goal, strong in the air and moved well to create openings that the likes of wing attack Kamogelo Maseko did well to exploit. 

Rolene Streutker also kept the scoreboard ticking over when she replaced Ngubane.

In the engine room, tireless wing defence Refiloe Nketsa and centre Tarle Mathe were able to control proceedings and dictate the tempo of the Proteas’ play, with youngster Kyla Dames ensuring there would be no drop in intensity later on.  

Proteas goal defence Jamie van Wyk was named Player of the Match for her strong defensive display that included intercepts and blocks, with her speed over the court and great leaping ability making her a constant menace in the defensive circle alongside Nicola Smith. Juanita van Tonder and Sanmarie Visser provided quality defensive backup on the bench.  

“Zimbabwe is a very good team, so I’m just honoured but this is not my own doing, it’s about my teammates as well,” Van Wyk said of here award, in her post-match interview. “I’m just so grateful for the team and where we’re going.”

While the Proteas have swept all their rivals before them, winning all their matches at the continental showpiece by convincing margins, the defender downplayed talk that it had been a walk in the park for the world’s fifth-ranked team.

“I wouldn’t say it was a walkover. I think every game we try to play to the best of our abilities and we really don’t take any team lightly. It’s a lot of fitness, a lot of hard work, so it’s definitely not easy,” she insisted.

Van Dyk was particularly proud of her players’ ability to adapt to the different styles of play from their rivals. 

“Today was a great semifinal for us. We thought it was going to be a little bit more tough but I believe the final is going to be the toughest of all the matches so far,” she said.

“I think in our pool match against Malawi, the crowd support was  amazing, it was a real good vibe in here and it really challenged us quite a lot even though the score might not have reflected it. For us, any final is usually quite a tough one.

“I think overall they have a good understanding of the different styles that all the different teams play, so for us now it’s just fine-tuning, really working on our areas that we were struggling with in this match and then still looking to set up the game plan for the final tomorrow.” 

Uganda beat the hosts 46-33 in the second semi-final in front of a packed crowd to set up a potentially mouthwatering decider between the continental netball powerhouses on Sunday.

The South African men also booked their place in the final with a 46-41 win over Kenya. They will meet the Zimbabwe men in the decider.