Jamaica are through to the Commonwealth Games netball final after defeating defending champions Australia in one of the biggest surprises in the sport’s history.
In the best game of the tournament by far, Australia scored three goals to reduce Jamaica’s lead to one with 36 seconds remaining.
But in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Hydro that included William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Sophie Dwyer missed a three-foot shot to level for Australia after the siren.
It meant the Sunshine Girls clung on for a shock 46-45 win. And that Australia had failed to reach the final for the first time since netball was introduced to the Games in 1998.
Earlier England’s hopes of gold were dashed in a 61-54 defeat by New Zealand that was far more comprehensive than the scoreline suggests.
The Silver Ferns went into the semi-final without defender Catherine Hall, who ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament in her knee against Wales. However, their influential goal attack Georgia Heffernan, who suffered an ankle injury against Wales, was able to play through the pain.
And while she scored nine goals from 10 attempts and provided 15 goal assists, it was the Silver Ferns’ Grace Nweke who dominated the match. England simply had no answer to the 6ft 4in goal shooter, who finished with 52 goals from 57 attempts.
Grace Nweke dominated the match to steer New Zealand into the final with victory against England. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
New Zealand will now play Jamaica in Sunday’s final. England will face Australia in the bronze medal match.
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Eleanor Cardwell, who was part of the England team that lost the bronze medal match to the Silver Ferns in 2022, stressed the importance of refocusing on Sunday’s match against Australia.
“I don’t want that feeling again,” said Cardwell. “I think that’s going to add extra fuel to the fire. We need to really want it tomorrow, and I know we really want it, we want to come away with a medal.
“Obviously, the bronze isn’t all we wanted, but that’s the one that we are going to fight for now. We’ve got to go back, recover well and have the conversation about what we’re going to do tomorrow.”
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