The Australian Fast5 Flyers remain undefeated at the 2013 Fast5 Netball World Series after holding on to beat the Malawi Queensland 42-37 at Vector Arena, Auckland, on Friday.
The Flyers backed up a record-breaking victory over England earlier in the afternoon with a second win on the opening day of the three-day tournament, which features modified rules.
Both sides took advantage of the multiple point scoring zones throughout the match as Flyers co-captain Susan Pratley and Malawi’s Mwayi Kumwenda didn’t hesitate to try their hand from distance.
Leading 8-7 at quarter-time, Australia piled on 20 points during the second-quarter power play to extend their advantage to 28-17 at half-time, including a six-point super shot from Flyer’s Gretel Tippett.
Malawi responded in the third quarter with a power play of their own but were held to just 10 points as the Flyers maintained their lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Queens mounted a comeback in the final quarter, outscoring Australians 10-6, but ran out of time.
“We strayed from what we wanted to do in this game which is a credit to Malawi and how much they took it to us but we held on in the end which is all we needed,” Flyers co-captain Demelza McCloud said.
The Australian Flyers will round out the opening day of competition when they take on defending champions New Zealand Fast5 Ferns at 7.15pm (AEDST).
Shooting statistics:
Australia 1PT 2PT 3PT S. Pratley 2/2 6/8 - G. Tippett 2/3 1/2 1/2 T. Cadwell 3/4 2/4 0/1 C. Dziwoki 2/2 1/1 -
