Netball World Cup Wrap Day Six

The 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup semi-finalists have been confirmed with one day still to play of the preliminaries stage two.

Australia and New Zealand had already sewed up their spots in the top four after Tuesday’s wins, with England and South Africa securing their spots with strong wins on day six of the World Cup.

England defeated Trinidad and Tobago by 26 goals, while South Africa had a 27-goal win over Uganda.

In other matches, Fiji defeated Sri Lanka, Samoa defeated Singapore and Jamaica had a comfortable win over Scotland.

Australia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Barbados, Malawi and Zimbabwe had a rest day.

The fixture for the semi-finals will be released after the final days’ play overnight tonight Australian time.

England v Trinidad and Tobago

With the added carrot of securing a spot in the World Cup top four dangling in front of them, England absorbed a confident start from The Calypso Girls to jump to a 20-12 lead in the first term, thanks to accurate shooting from Jo Harten (14/15) and Rachel Dunn (6/7) in the circle.

At the other end of the court, Samantha Wallace and Kalifa McCollin made the most of their chances (3/3 and 9/10 respectively), but didn’t have the same supply as the Roses.

Trinidad and Tobago responded in the second quarter, capitalising on some wayward attempts from the Roses to net the first three goals of the term, and drew close midway through the quarter before a strong finish saw England pull away to a 39-23 lead at half-time.

The third quarter started largely goal-for-goal, before Harten put through three consecutive goals. The Calypso Girls responded in kind, but then it was largely the Roses, who finished the term with 17 goals to 10 to extend their lead.

Dunn return to the court for the final term, replacing Harten in goal shooter after two quarters on the bench, as England continued to shift its line-up.

The final term was the closest on the scoreboard, with England winning the quarter by just three goals, but it was enough to secure a 72-46 win, putting the Roses in prime position for a top-four spot, which was confirmed by the end of the day’s play.

Jo Harten: Harten’s goal shooting has been superb throughout the World Cup, and it was no different against Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday. Harten played three quarters – one in goal attack and two in goal shooter – finishing with a 90 per cent strike rate, as well as having nine goal assists, 16 feeds, a gain and an intercept.

Up Next: Australia will take on New Zealand in their final game of the preliminaries from 7.30pm AEST time. Coverage starts on Nine’s Wide World of Sports from 7pm. You can catch all the action on 9Go! In NSW, QLD and the Northern Territory, and 9Life in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia.

In other matches, England takes on South Africa in another huge clash, Jamaica faces Uganda, Trinidad and Tobago will take on Scotland, Zimbabwe and Malawi face off and Northern Ireland and Barbados will meet.