The Origin Australian Diamonds are on track in Cape Town after cementing another convincing win (85-38), this time over the Tonga Talas.
The Aussie midcourt was a standout with player of the match Jamie-Lee Price, Paige Hadley and skipper Liz Watson unstoppable.
While the combination of experience and strength was too much for the Tongan squad.
But it wasn’t without an early fright from the Talas who matched the Diamonds’ speed, intensity early. Their full court pressure forced the Aussie cohort into a number of uncharacteristic errors in the opening term.
Talas skipper and Queensland Firebird Hulita Veve was on song early, picking up two intercepts in the first quarter alone.
It was a bit of a messy start from the Diamonds cohort who let the Talas eat away at their seven-goal margin to reduce it to two (15-13) at the first spell despite a couple of settlers from Kiera Austin under the post.
Diamonds head coach Stacey Marinkovich left her starting seven unchanged heading into the second term, giving the group time to settle into the game.
Jamie-Lee Price was named player of the match.And it worked, because the world number one side edged their way out to a game high lead of 10 goals within the first few minutes of play.
Price worked her way into the game at centre. She had 21 feeds at half-time and combined well with Watson who racked up 14.
Austin was again doing plenty in both attack and defence, taking a crucial intercept to swing momentum the Diamonds’ way.
It was all green and gold after that.
The Aussies continued to blow out the lead, outscoring the Togans 24-6 in the second quarter.
Tonga’s Uneeq Palavi was one standout for the Talas, shooting 15-16 for the half.
Koenen also impressed under the post, racking up 31 goals and shooting at 97 per cent.
Marinkovich made a handful of changes to start the third term including injecting vice captain Steph Wood into the game, where she notched up her 50th test cap.
The Diamonds had to fend off an early scare from the Talas.Sophie Garbin stepped into goal shooter and was strong under the post and put away 23 goals in the third.
Courtney Bruce and Jo Weston were not mucking around. They set the tone in the third and combined for seven gains in a single quarter.
We got to witness a new attacking combination in the final term with Austin returning to the court but with the wing attack bib. Her effortless movement, combined with Wood’s quick release and Garbin’s strength under the post made for a killer combo.
Price was named player of the match for her standout performance which included 33 feeds and four gains.
The Aussies will now face Fiji in the final match of the opening preliminary rounds on Sunday.
