THE Zimbabwe Gems succumbed to a shocking defeat at the hands of Botswana, who emerged 43-47 victors in an African Netball Championships match in Windhoek, Namibia, this afternoon.
This was the first win of the tournament for the side that is ranked number 27 globally as they defeated Zimbabwe, who are ranked 12th.
Botswana drew first blood in the first quarter when they went to the breather leading 8-13 and upped the tempo in the second quarter, holding on to a two-goal lead going to halftime leading 21-23. They showed their highly-ranked opponents that the success in the first two quarters was not a fluke when they opened a seven-goal cushion in the third quarter, where they led 29-36. Although the Gems tried to claw back into the match, they were four goals shy of Botswana’s tally as the match ended 43-47.
England bound Gems captain Felisistus Kwangwa who will be returning to the Vitality Netball Superleague for her second stint with Surrey Storm, said Saturday’s double header against Uganda and Zambia took the gloss off the shining Gems.
“We still have a lot of work to do with our mid, we were losing possession unnecessarily, and Botswana wouldn’t allow us to come back into the game. I think fatigue played a big part in our defeat today, we had a very hectic one yesterday (Saturday), and as much as everyone was trying their level best, our bodies couldn’t allow us to do so,” said Kwangwa.
Gems’ head coach Lloyd Makunde said tomorrow’s match against Kenya is just as important as every other match the team has played and expects the team to quickly forget about the disappointing defeat against Botswana.
“Firstly, yesterday we played two games, we played Zambia, who hadn’t played a game in two days, and I think fatigue crept in. We had too many errors as well, and that certainly contributed to the loss. We need to go and sit down and revisit our play,” Makunde said.
“We need to talk to the girls hard and make sure they are mentally prepared for the game against Kenya.”
Botswana coach Seipei Gaelisiwe said they studied and explored Zimbabwe’s weakness.
“It went according to the game plan that I told them. Zimbabwe are not fast. If we beat them mid-court and perfect circle feet, we are going to win this game though at some stage we were lapsing mentally, so I had to call from the bench- girls know the purpose, focus if its transition, let it be a perfect transition with the conversion of goals. Happy at last after a long (long) week,” she said.
Zimbabwe edged Zambia by a goal to win the encounter 53-54, and skipper Kwangwa in the build-up to the match against Botswana has implored her charges to work as a team if they entertained any hopes of winning.
“We need to make sure that we defend as a team and win many turnovers. That is the only way we can win,” said Kwangwa on the eve of the tie against Botswana. Against Zambia, the Gems started off the brighter side leading 1-4 and 13-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Zambia turned the tables around to lead 28-25 at half time and 40-39 by the end of the third quarter. The Gems with the centre pass upon resumption of the fourth quarter saw goal shooter Sharon Bwanali making no mistake from an overpass from wing attack Progress Moyo who was fed by wing defender Claris Kwaramba from a foul inside Zambia’s half to level the scores 40-40.
At 41-41, Zimbabwe won a turnover in defence. Bwanali capitalised on that and ensured the Gems got into the lead for the first time (41-42), and 20 seconds later, it was a two-goal cushion as Tafadzwa Matura, the Gems goal attach, scored again. This was probably the match’s turning point.
There was another turnover with the Gems leading 44-46, and Bwanali buried it away to leave the scoreboard reading 44-47. However, Zimbabwe failed to make use of its centre pass, with Zambia scoring to reduce the gap to just one goal. Bwanali, strong on the take and a firm and solid landing, doubled the advantage. Zambia continued to fight and, with three minutes remaining, ran in the opposite direction for them and subsequently fell by one goal.
“The shooter for Zimbabwe has been excellent. I think I only saw her miss one goal the whole afternoon. Very steady, very consistent, very calm, very confident and an excellent decoy by Sharon in this instance to leave the goal open for the goal attack to shoot at goal,” commentators said of Bwanali.
