England finish top of Pool D; England opted for Olivia Tchine at Goal Shooter for her first start of the tournament; all games will be live on Sky Sports from July 28 to August 6, with one game per day available on the Sky Sports YouTube channel
Monday 31 July 2023 09:03, UK
England finished the first stage of the preliminaries of the Netball World Cup top of Pool D after a 62-37 win over Scotland.
After wins over Barbados and Malawi, England opted for a change up front in the first quarter as Olivia Tchine started at Goal Shooter for her first start of the tournament, with Helen Housby at Goal Attack, and Eleanor Cardwell on the bench.
Scotland owned the majority of the possession early on but, after absorbing the pressure, England fought back through Housby and Chelsea Pitman's movement around the court to lead a tight contest 14-9 after 15 minutes.
Scotland continued to show confidence in the second quarter but England's experience kept them on top as the defensive work of Geva Mentor and Fran Williams slowed their opponents down, England going in 31-18 up at half-time.
At half-time England rang in the changes as Funmi Fadoju came on at Goal Keeper and co-captain Nat Metcalf replaced Helen Housby at Goal Attack.
Tchine continued to shine in the circle as Fadoju's interceptions made their mark and England led 46-29 with one quarter left to play.
Cardwell came on at Goal Shooter for the final quarter of play and continued where Tchine had left off, England taking control and maintaining momentum to secure a 62-37 victory and finish top of Pool D.
Elsewhere, Australia ended top of Pool A with a huge 101-32 victory over Fiji, while New Zealand finished top of Pool D after they thrashed Singapore 80-19.
Player of the match Chelsea Pitman...
"I think for me, I have just been working on trying to control the pace and being a solid member out there in attack.
"I can't do my job without the girls out there so for us to get another win and be consistently building each quarter is a success for us.
"I think we have got a really good connection.
"I think you have got to have a bit of confidence about yourself because that is where belief comes from so for us, it is just about keeping in our bubble and taking every game as it comes."
