England’s head coach, Jess Thirlby, called their 90-29 victory over Barbados a “confidence booster” as they kicked off their Netball World Cup campaign in Cape Town with a flawless performance.
England entered the game early in front of an enthusiastic crowd in South Africa’s “Mother City” despite having failed to win any medals at the previous summer’s Commonwealth Games. They appeared confident despite their recent failure.
After a strong individual season in Australia’s Super Netball league, Helen Housby appeared to have brought her form to Cape Town for Netball World Cup. She shot 100% (16/16) while she was on the court and recorded two interceptions, which is a perfect shooting statistic.
Barbados
Barbados, ranked 14th in the world, remained committed to the fight despite the growing scoreline. Sasha and Kadeen Corbin, two former England Roses who switched nations to compete in their first Netball World Cup for the nation, spearheaded their attack, showing flashes of brilliance. However, England’s horde of defenders stifled their efforts.
With greater threats ahead, including Australia, New Zealand, and Jamaica, who recorded a daunting 105-25 victory over Sri Lanka in the afternoon’s action, Thirlby seized the opportunity to try and test all 12 of her players in different combinations. She said that her decision was rooted in keeping the future in mind.
“I thought the changes were purposeful both for this game and beyond. So we’ve taken confidence on that as a coaching team and I thought the girls really managed that well. They came and had impact. We didn’t want to warm ourselves up through the game, we really wanted to make a statement of intent, mainly for ourselves, but if that has a good ripple effect externally that’s a bonus.”
England were the only home nation to record a win on the opening day with a valiant Wales losing 51-60 to South Africa and Scotland losing 49-55 to Malawi.
The Scots were heading for the day’s major upset as they led Malawi, ranked four places above them, until the final quarter when the African side surged ahead to secure the victory.