England defeat Malawi in the first game of their two-match series
England won the first game of their two-match series against Malawi thanks to a commanding 68-36 victory at London’s Copperbox Arena.
The Malawi Queens – fifth in the world rankings – missed the first Test after failing to receive their visas in time, but arrived in time for Wednesday’s match.
Anna Mayes’s England instead faced Wales in last weekend’s match, inflicting a heavy 70-25 defeat on the Dragons in Liverpool.
Malawi, who finishing fifth in the Commonwealth Games, put up a much tougher test but the hosts proved far too strong.
Shooters Jo Harten and Rachel Dunn combined well in wing attack alongside Tamsin Greenway as they opened up a 35-19 lead into half-time.
Malawi reduced the deficit to 11 in the third quarter but England rallied, scoring 16 goals in the final quarter to round off an impressive win.
Player of the match Jade Clarke told Sky Sports: “They are a hard team to get the ball off so we had to work really hard. But as a team we’ve been working really hard with our defensive tactics and I think that really showed tonight with the ball we got in defence.
“We’ve got so many different combinations, but we are working through them.
“We need to be more clinical (in the second Test), having two or three options on the ball and really punishing a team.”
Meanwhile head coach Anna Mayes said: “It wasn’t a pretty win. I think we won ugly and I think we need to address our areas. We weren’t clinical enough in attack and in defence we got spread (out).”
The hosts will go into Saturday’s final game against the African nation in Worcester with two wins to their name.
The matches are part of the preparation for the 2015 Netball World Cup, which takes place in Australia in August.
—Head to head—
Malawi Queens who are ranked number one in Africa and fifth in the world out of some 35 national teams.
Playing without star shooter Mwayi Kumwenda, Malawi Queens made a quick start to Wednesday’s game, turning over England’s opening centre pass, but could not make it last.
The Mary Waya coached side had proved it has potential in Caroline Mtukule-Ngwira, goalkeeper Towera Vinkhumbo-Nyirenda and goal shooter Sindi Simtowe.
Waya said she was starting from scratch to add depth in every department to mitigate the future absence of regulars.
Martha Dambe, Loraine Ngwira and Beauty Nyangulu represent the Queens next generation.
They did put up a tougher fight but trailed the hosts 19-35 at half-time.
Malawi put in an improved performance in the third quarter, reducing the deficit to 11, but they could only add five goals in the final quarter, compared to England’s 16.
Waya attributed the loss to “fatique”.
“We arrived in London on Monday from Malawi and had to train the same day and yesterday,” she said.
“We will put up a big fight in Saturday’s final game in Worcester ,” said Waya.
The two teams play the final match on Saturday at the University Arena, Worcester.
The matches are part of the preparation for the 2015 Netball World Cup, which takes place in Australia in August.
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England v Malawi – quarter-by-quarter
Q1: Eng 16-9 Malawi Q2: Eng 19-10 Malawi
Q3: Eng 17-12 Malawi Q4: Eng 16-5 Malawi
—Reporting by SkySports/Netball and England Netball
