Australian netball team makes World Cup final after nail-biting two-point victory over South Africa
- The Australian Diamonds narrowly defeated the South African Proteas
- This means Australia are now one win away from their 12th World Cup triumph
- The side will play the winner in the England and New Zealand match
The Australian Diamonds have narrowly triumphed over South Africa to put the side in the World Cup Final.
The world champions were made to fight all the way for their 55-53 win over the Proteas in Liverpool, England on Saturday.
This means Australia are now one win away from their 12th World Cup triumph.
The side will play the winner from the England and New Zealand match.
The Australian Diamonds were made to fight all the way for their 55-53 win over the Proteas in Liverpool, in England, on Saturday Pictured: Caitlin Thwaites and April Brandley
Diamonds coach Lisa Alexandra benched skipper Caitlin Bassett, Steph Wood and midcourter Kelsey Browne who all starred in the win over New Zealand on Friday for the game.
Alexander denied the move was disrespectful to the South African side, who would have been in their first World Cup final had they won.
She said the reasons for the changes were purely tactical and that the form of Caitlin Thwaites, who scored 30 goals from 30 attempts and Gretal Tippett, who made all of her shots, vindicated her decision.
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'We are playing different opponents and not because we under-estimated South Africa at all,' Alexander said.
'We felt the team matched up well on them and that shows we respect them.'
Alexander did concede the squad was far from perfect and had to fight at every step of the match despite determination from her players.
This means Australia are now one win away from their 12th World Cup triumph. Pictured: Kelsey Browne of Australia reacts on the bench
'It was a bit nervy, but the great thing is that are putting in practice a lot of the things we have worked on over the last three weeks,' she said.
'We are scoring when we have to score and getting turnovers when we need them.
'That's what needs to happen to win these types of games.'.
The Proteas, who are coached by former Diamonds mentor Norma Plummer, reduced the gap to a single goal at one point in the fourth quarter after having trailed 31-23 at halftime.
Diamonds coach Lisa Alexandra benched skipper Caitlin Bassett, Steph Wood and midcourter Kelsey Browne who all starred in the win over New Zealand on Friday for the game. Pictured: Hadley
But Plummer was left to rue some poor finishing by shooters Lenize Potgieter and Maryka Holtzhausen, who missed four attempts between them.
Potgieter made 39 out of 41 shot attempts she made.
'It wasn't a walk in the park after all, was it,' said Plummer.
'[They were] very lucky to get out of it because we had the opportunity in that last bit being one goal down,' she said.
Alexander did concede the squad was far from perfect and had to fight at every step of the match despite determination from her players. Pictured: Jo Weston, Jamie-Lee Price and Courtney Bruce
'But not maintaining pressure at that time cost us. We worked that hard, I thought our hassle rate was sensational.'
The vastly experienced Thwaites, who held her nerve superbly to score crucial goals late in the game in front of a noisy crowd at the M&S Bank Arena said the win was hugely satisfying.
'It was really tough we felt momentum swings switching but we managed to find another level,' she said.
'I feel like it was really good how we played at times, but we have so much to improve on.'
The Proteas, who are coached by former Diamonds mentor Norma Plummer, reduced the gap to a single goal at one point in the fourth quarter after having trailed 31-23 at halftime. Pictured: Weston
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