South African netball will pick their best team for the upcoming series against Malawi with an eye on the 2023 World Cup.
The Proteas will face the Malawi Queens in a three-match series at Sun City in North West from Thursday.
The World Cup in Cape Town in three years’ time is at the back of everyone’s minds.
Proteas coach Dorette Badenhorst says “It’s always important to play against Malawi and Uganda. They’re two great teams, they’re close to us on the world rankings. You have to play against them. It’s also important for us to play against the top teams in the world. But confidence-wise, it’s important to also play the teams ranked six to ten.”
? SPAR Proteas Head Coach Dorette Badenhorst and Captain Bongi Msomi share their pre-SPAR Challenge thoughts. ?????#SPARProteas #WeAreAllIn #SPARChallenge | @My_SPAR pic.twitter.com/uomTZUeZCD
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) November 25, 2020
South Africa have dominated the match-ups against Malawi. They have won 20 of their previous 33 matches, drew one, and lost only 12.
Proteas captain Bongi Msomi says, “We really have so much respect for Malawi. They’ve been producing some good results. Every time they play us, it’s such a huge battle. We’re at home and we are proud to host them. And just to see what we can do. It’s actually the new players that can be comfortable to know that they are playing at home and they can freely showcase their talent, which I think is going to be fantastic to see.”
? Time to UNITE South Africa ❤️
In a year that almost didn’t see any netball, isn’t it good to know the #SPARProteas will be on court at home in 2020! Let’s UNITE for netball and support our girls with every pass and every goal… ???
?????#SPARChallenge #WeAreAllIn pic.twitter.com/SLV6ImoX2E
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) November 26, 2020
Tonight’s match gets underway at seven o’clock. The second test will be decided on Friday evening, and the third on Sunday afternoon. Report by Liezl Olivier
