NZ-Aussie face off for netball crown

The fate of the semi-finalist teams were sealed at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday at the Mission Foods World Netball Championships.

New Zealand and Australia will now battle it out in Sunday's Grand Final to strive to for the World Champion title.
New Zealand were first up on court one against World number three, England, a team determined to win the title for the first time in their country's history. The Silver Ferns booked a spot in the Final of the Championships as they defeated England with a convincing 49-39 win in the first of today's Semi Finals. The fans, dressed to impress, were out in full force and made for an exciting game of Netball.
New Zealand made a steady start and ensured they were slick on attack, keeping composed during the numerous comebacks that England deployed over the sixty minutes. Centre Laura Langman and Wing Attack Temepara George took absolute control, both feeding the circle with quick deceptive passes and well-weighted lobs. Goal Shooter Irene Van Dyk withstood restrictive and smothering pressure by the England defence; once again shooting above the 90% mark and taking in some exceptionally placed balls in the circle. Player of the Match, Maria Tutaia, was influential in New Zealand's front line, rotating the circle and not afraid to put up her trademark long-bomb shots. On defence, Captain Casey William pulled in intercepts, blocked shots and dominated in the rebound stakes.
England, who have excelled all Championship, struggled at times to get the ball through the hoop; Jo Harten, who started for the England team shot 13/14 for the first half but was replaced by Louisa Brownfield for the remainder of the match. The defensive combination of Geva Mentor and Sonia Mkoloma showed experience, Mentor sticking like glue to Van Dyk and Mkoloma forcing Tutaia to shoot from the edge of the circle every time. Young, up-coming future Netball star for England, Serena Guthrie, came on to the court in the third quarter at Wing Defence and immediately made an impact, tightening up the defence on George and Langman.
It was a tight first quarter that really showed the strength of the defensive line-ups in both teams. The pressure was on from the outset as the sides gave their all to get that winning edge and gain that upper hand. A great show was given to both sets of fans that graced the stadium, but it was the Silver Ferns that prevailed and who now face their long standing-rivals, Australia, in Sunday's Final.
Speaking of her team's semi-final victory, New Zealand Coach, Ruth Aiken, said, "The game was pretty intense but at the end we kept our composure; it was hard work but we had to grind through it. I felt that England threw everything at it, as we knew they would, and sometimes it's about weathering the storm and building our momentum again".
Australia and Jamaica took to court immediately after to fight for the second spot in the Final. The Australian Netball Diamonds and defending champions were unstoppable against their Caribbean opponents, as they continued to extend their lead over the frustrated Sunshine Girls.
Quick off the mark, Australia were able to showcase their trademark sharp passing and agile movement. The speed of players such as Natalie Medhust at Goal Attack and Wing Attack Kimberlee Green proved too much pace for Jamaica and the accuracy of shooters Catherine Cox and Caitlin Bassett didn't leave much room for claiming rebounds. The understanding between Cox and Medhurst, a fairly new combination, has grown from strength to strength and they are now a formidable duo. One shining Diamond on the court was Goal Defence Julie Corletto; back in full force for her team, Corletto was assigned the task of defending Romelda Aiken and showed off her elevation prowess, jumping out of her skin to pull in spectacular intercepts.
Opting to play her two tall-tower shooters together in the shooting circle may not have been as effective as planned for Jamaican Coach Oberon Pitterson as she tried to keep Australia guessing. Jhaniele Fowler at Goal Shooter and Romelda Aiken at Goal Attack saw a height average of 1.96m! After sixty minutes the green and gold trade mark colours of Australia flashed through he crowd in celebration of their team's victory.
In the rest of Saturday's games, host nation Singapore defeated neighbouring country Malayisa, 47 to 36 in the battle for 15th and 16th place. It was retribution time for Wales as they gave everything physically possible to overturn their last result against Fiji in pool play and steal the win for 9th place. The 13th and 14th place play off ended in a win of 59 goals to 54 for the Botswanan team, who are ranked number 16 in the world, compared to opponents Sri Lanka, who currently stand at 18th. Malawi, who won by 61 goals to 38 will now have the chance to play for the 5th place in the tournament against South Africa in Sunday's match play.