The New Zealand netballers have put the Malawi curse back in its box.
Malawi caused a huge upset when they beat a struggling New Zealand team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, but that result is clearly well in the past.
New Zealand won their third outing at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games by beating Malawi 69-50, and in the end it was a decisive victory. New Zealand led 33-28 at halftime and got stronger as the game progressed.
The New Zealand shooting was exceptional, and goal shoot Grace Nweke landed 52 of her 55 shots to provide the base for the victory. She was well supported in the shooting circle by goal attack Te Paea Selby-Rickit, who landed 13 from 15.
Another player to make an impact was centre Shannon Saunders, who gave the attacking end much more penetration when she took the court.
“I was pleased to put that one to bed,” said New Zealand coach Noeline Taurua. “I’m happy with that.”
She said there was a bit of nervousness in the players when they were up by only five at halftime and because it was Malawi, with that loss in 2018 in the back of their minds.
“This was another pressure match, like Uganda, and to come through it again with a good win is very pleasing and sets us up well for the rest of the tournament.”
Taurua noted the accuracy of her shooters. “Any time you can be succeeding with over 90 percent of your shots, you have to be happy. It’s a real comfort having such accurate shooters.”