Australia thumped England 61-45 in Sunday’s 2023 Netball World Cup final at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The result sees the Diamonds lifting the trophy, presented by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, for a record-extending 12th time in the history of the global showpiece.
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SETTING THE SCENE FOR NETBALL WORLD CUP FINAL
Having lost out to New Zealand by just one goal in the previous Netball World Cup final in Liverpool four years ago, Australia ensured there would be no repeat scenario when they outscored England by 16 points in the final in Cape Town on Sunday.
England was playing in their first-ever Netball World Cup final after beating defending champions New Zealand in the semi-final, while the Australians were contesting their ninth consecutive gold-medal match, having never finished lower than second in the tournament’s 60-year history.
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AUSTRALIA PIPPED ENGLAND BY HALF-TIME
Australia came out firing to take a two-goal lead after the opening exchanges. England coach Jess Thirlby responded immediately, bringing on Fran Williams for Layla Guscoth at goal defence. The move proved effective, with the Roses managing to equalise at 12-12 but throwing away their opportunity to edge in front while Australia were doing well to hold onto their possession. However, there was nothing to separate the teams by the first break, as they finished the quarter all square on 13-13.
The Diamonds looked more in control after the break, showing patience to work their way around the England defence. While the Roses continued to work hard on turning the ball over, they weren’t always capitalising on the created opportunities.
That saw the Diamonds edging ahead and taking a four-goal lead into half-time.
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DIAMONDS PULLED AWAY IN THE THIRD AND FOURTH QUARTERS
When the sides met on Thursday in their final group game in Cape Town, which England won by one goal, the Australians enjoyed a six-goal lead at half-time. But there would be no repeat of that wastefulness from the Diamonds this time.
True to form, the Diamonds had clearly learned from their mistakes, putting their foot down in the third quarter and looking like they were one step ahead of the Roses throughout. And while there were moments of individual brilliance from the Roses, that did little to slow the flow of Australian goals as they went into the final break 10 goals up.
That was always going to be an unlikely gap to bridge in just 15 minutes for England, who, to their credit, continued to fight until the final whistle. But with the Australians within grasp of the title they last won in 2015, the world’s top-ranked side continued to do what they do best, steadily building on their advantage to ensure they lifted the trophy for a record 12th time.
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