adminLillian Sibanda Sports Correspondent
TEAM Zimbabwe walloped Botswana 52-21 before a bumper crowd in an Africa Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games netball match played at White City Stadium yesterday. Heavy rains delayed the match by half an hour but it was worth the wait as the players put up a spectacular performance which was appreciated by the crowd through song and dance.
Botswana came to the match smarting from a 25-55 defeat in their opening game against South Africa on Saturday and they sought to restore their wounded pride but found the host who had sent Swaziland packing with a 57-15 victory at the weekend resolute.
Zimbabwe’s duo of Sharon Bwanali and Mercy Mukwati scored 11 goals in the first quarter with their opponents only managing three goals. Zimbabwe went on to add 24 points going into the last quarter and by then, there was little that Botswana could do to stage a comeback.
The Botswana coach Oreditse Marakakgoro conceded defeat saying; “Our girls weren’t mentally fit as they weren’t stable. We were affected by the heavy rains as the girls anticipated defeat before they even took to the courts. We also suffered a blow when three of our players had to attend another tournament in Singapore.”
“We’re however re-grouping for our next match and we’ve to tell the girls to be mentally prepared for the game,” she said.
Zimbabwe assistant coach Simbarashe Mlambo said “self belief” by players was key to their victory.
“To us playing with Botswana was like a revenge mission because they always overpower us and we wanted to prove that we can also beat them. The rains didn’t affect us at all as we quickly adapted to change of weather. Our target is to go all the way to the final and with such performances, I see nothing stopping us,” Mlambo said.
Earlier in the morning, Namibia beat Swaziland 46-21.
Fixtures
Today: South vs Namibia (9AM), Botswana vs Swaziland (11AM), Namibia vs Zimbabwe (3PM)
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu