South Africa suffered a 64-48 defeat to Australia on day three of the Netball Quad Series in Cape Town. The Proteas will meet England in the 3rd/4th place play-off match on Wednesday.
The Proteas were looking for their first victory in the series against the top-ranked Australian Diamonds, having lost to New Zealand and drawn with England in the previous matches. And they started the match brightly going toe to toe with the favourites.
The score was evenly matched at 8-all with the home team always leading but the Diamonds refusing to lie down. But Australia started to have the upper hand to take the lead for the first time in the match to make it 9-8. And the Diamonds never looked back and took the 18-15 first-quarter lead.
The top-ranked team Australia were quickly off the mark in the second quarter to score five goals without a reply. The Proteas showed courage to fight back but the Diamonds were strong enough to take a seven-goal lead at halftime.
Australia added 16 goals, while the Proteas managed 11 goals in the third quarter, with the Diamonds leading 51-38.
The Diamonds continued where they left off in the final quarter and eventually sealed a 64-48 victory. Australia will meet their long-time rivals New Zealand in the final on Wednesday.
