A dominant second quarter, underpinned by the accurate shooting of Jhaniele Fowler, helped Jamaica to a 61-48 win over Uganda in the ongoing Netball World Cup tie on Thursday.
While both teams remain in contention to finish fifth in the competition, this result means that Jamaica play Zimbabwe and Uganda face Malawi to qualify for that fifth-place play-off.
Fans hoping to see a battle between two of the world’s best goal shooters – Fowler and the She Cranes’ Peace Proscovia – will have been disappointed as Proscovia was left on the bench and Stella Oyella started under the posts.
With Jamaica leading by six points, Proscovia entered the court, and she was immediately on the score sheet to make the score 18-10.
Uganda had difficulty in picking out their star forward while Oyella missed when she had a chance. She fumbled a bounce pass and Jamaica entered the changing rooms at half time with a healthy 35-20 lead.
Fowler netted total 38 times from 39 attempts as her side took a 51-34 third quarter lead. The fourth quarter was Uganda’s best, with Proscovia maintaining her 100% record as she helped bring down the Sunshine Girls’ winning margin, as the match finished at 61-48.
“It’s definitely not the result we wanted, but there were lots of positives to take.With Uganda still being an up-and-coming country in netball, we are pleased with our performance – it is a step up,” Proscovia said after the game. Jamaica face another African side in Malawi on Friday while Uganda face Zimbabwe as all four teams try to keep alive hopes of a top-five finish.
