South Africa's Netball World Cup challenge stuttered after they suffered a humbling 67-49 loss to fourth-ranked Jamaica.
South Africa were outplayed 67-49 by a ruthless Jamaican outfit in their final Pool C game at the Netball World Cup 2023 on Sunday evening.
The result means the Proteas finished second in their four-team pool and now face a tough task to make the semifinals.
Jamaica were clinical whereas South Africa were sloppy. The islanders were well worth their 18-point victory, even taking their foot off the gas in the final quarter by resting their starting seven.
The turning point in the match was the third quarter where Jamaica outscored the hosts by a stunning 17 points.
"We came together at the halftime break, we were clinical with what we went out there to do and we just got the job done," said player of the match Jodi-Ann Ward.
"We were lacking in a few areas in the first and second quarter so we addressed it at the halftime break and just executed."
The complementary attacking pair of Jhaniele Fowler and Shanice Beckford tormented the Proteas' defence throughout the encounter.
Fowler's size drew the attention of both goal defenders, Phumza Maweni and Karla Pretorius, while the nimble Beckford was constantly able to wriggle free to open up opportunities to...
