Diamonds undefeated after stage one

The Origin Australian Diamonds have continued their winning ways, delivering another blow at the Netball World Cup with a huge victory over the Fiji Pearls (101-32).

The win means Australia finish on top of their table after stage one of the preliminary rounds in Cape Town and will go into stage two undefeated.

Moving the ball with speed and accuracy was again the recipe for success for the Diamonds, who dominated from the first whistle.

The Diamonds set the tone early and carried a 14 goal lead into the first break before continuing their dominance.

Sophie Garbin was a strong and reliable target under the post, helped by the slick feeds from Cara Koenen out at goal attack. Koenen lead the feeds for the Diamonds at quarter time with 10.

Her height in the midcourt was also noticeable, with the Pearls struggling to clear Koenen’s reach.

Accuracy was key for the Australian shooters who made more than 90 per cent of their attempts for the entire game while Fiji failed to capitalise on their opportunities.

The Diamonds pressure was outstanding and Fiji were too slow to release at times, playing into the Australian defenders hands or being called for held ball on several occasions.

The change of Lydia Panapasa into goal shooter for the Pearls worked though. Standing at 192cm her added height was much needed under the post and her impact on the scoreboard was felt immediately.

Adelaide Thunderbirds assistance coach Cathy Fellows must have given her Pearls defenders a pump up at quarter time because it worked. They forced two balls in a row over the baseline before goal keeper Kelera Nawai-Caucau added two gains to her stats sheet.

Bringing Ana Moi into wing defence for the Pearls gave Diamonds skipper Liz Watson something to think about. Her speed onto the ball outstanding.

But the Diamonds were too quick to transition down the court, opening up a clean avenue to Garbin under the post who finished the job.

They took a 46-18 lead into the main break before head coach Stacey Marinkovich made a number of changes to start the second half.

Courtney Bruce came on into goal keeper with Kiera Austin slotting into wing attack, Sunday Aryang into wing defence and Steph Wood replaced her Sunshine Coast Lightning teammate in goal attack.

Bruce racked up six gains for the third term alone while the attackers started to transition the ball more freely into the shooters under the post and the Pearls couldn’t keep up.

Heading into the final term with a comfortable 72-27 lead, Bruce picked up where she left off collecting another five gains.

Watson returned to the court but in centre and finished match with a whopping 38 feeds.

But it was Bruce who was awarded player of the match, for the second time. She tallied up 11 gains, including eight intercepts.

The Diamonds have finished on top of their pool and will merge with a different pool for the second stage of the preliminary rounds. A battle with England awaits.