2019 Vitality Netball World Cup: England beat Scotland 70-34
Coverage continues on day three on Sky Sports Netball, Action and Arena as well as our YouTube channel with the final group games of the first stage
Sunday 14 July 2019 16:43, UK
England displayed their strength in depth to beat Scotland 70-34 and join Australia and New Zealand in registering day two victories at the Vitality Netball World Cup.
The Roses squad has been described as the best in the tournament and, having used all 12 players in beating Uganda on day one, Tracey Neviile rang the changes for another emphatic victory on Saturday afternoon.
Captain Serena Guthrie, Geva Mentor, Chelsea Pitman and Friday's hero Jo Harten all dropped to the bench as Rachel Dunn, Jade Clarke, Natalie Haythornthwaite and Natalie Panagarry were given their chance to shine.
Veteran shooter Dunn took made the most of the opportunity thanks to a phenomenal display under the posts, hitting 49 of her 52 attempts to lead England to a 26-goal win after Friday's 32-goal success.
Neville's much-changed starting seven proved too strong for Scotland as they fell short despite a brave effort, a few too many mistakes proving costly against an England side with sights on gold next weekend.
In the end the Roses ran out emphatic winners in front of another expectant crowd to follow their major title rivals in making it two wins from their opening two games, but an injury to Layla Guscoth was later confirmed as a ruptured Achilles that would rule her out for the rest of the tournament.
Australia and New Zealand were again out early on Saturday morning and it was a similar story to Friday for both with victories on the board to maintain a 100 per cent start.
Jamaica and South Africa joined them win victories in the evening session to make it a clean sweep so far for the big five - South Africa becoming the first team to hit 90 goals in the dismantling of Fiji.
However, it was the Roses result that delighted the packed out M&S Bank Arena right from the off as Dunn and Haythornthwaite rekindled their Wasps title-winning partnership in the circle to help England to another fast start.
A faultless Dunn had them 8-2 in front within five minutes and despite Guscoth limping to the changing rooms before the end of the quarter, England ended the opening 15 minutes 18-9 in front, Dunn's long bomb on the buzzer a fitting finish to a 100 per cent success rate.
It was more of the same in the second quarter for Scotland, too many mistakes for Thistles undermined an impressive display from their shooters - a tally of 19 turnovers at half time told the story for the Scots as the Roses stretched their lead to 15.
With England powering clear, the sight of Mentor, Guthrie, Pitman emerging from the bench could have intimidated the Scots but Gail Parata's side stuck to their task despite a dominant Roses third quarter.
Teenage shooting sensation Emma Barrie impressed for Scotland but it was the powerhouse unleashed from the bench that helped England win the third 15 minutes by 13 goals and almost double their lead heading into the final quarter.
Both teams continued to ring the changes as the game entered the closing stages, England cruising to their second successive victory and looking as strong as they have done in recent memory.
After beating Samoa on day one, the Scots now face an important test against Uganda to win back their momentum as they target a strong second phase to the competition.
In their own words....
We hear from the captains of the big guns, and a very different day at the office for the Ugandan centre.
Australia's Caitlin Bassett was full of praise for the defensive end of the Diamonds who were put through their paces by Zimbabwe.
And Laura Langman's New Zealand are out to enjoy every minute as they chase a fourth World Cup crown.
What you might have missed....
Having looked so slick in beating Northern Ireland on Day One, the Aussie Diamonds were made to battle to victory over Zimbabwe, a 72-37 scoreline didn't do the African debutants much justice and their third quarter showing became the stuff of social media legend - losing 15-13.
New Zealand came in under the radar, and that remains the case, maybe it's the early starts! But having looked impressive in coming through against Malawi on Friday in their toughest test, they looked equally fluid in overpowering Barbados, who did have some style in the shooting circle.
Northern Ireland picked up a first win of the tournament, bouncing back from their Aussie hammering to beat Sri Lanka and set themselves back on course for the second stage, Caroline O'Hanlon picking up her 100th cap in the process.
Malawi served up a treat in an 87-38 win over Singapore, and will give the Northern Irish a major test, while Uganda were too strong for Samoa who provide England's next opposition.
What's next....
Stage One of the Preliminaries reaches it's conclusion on Sunday with the final round of group games, and places in the second stage are at stake. South Africa against Jamaica looks the stand out fixture of the day.
The top three teams in each group will progress to the the next phase, with groups A and B coming together and groups C and D doing likewise.
While the big guns are already through a number of teams are battling to make their way into the second stage. Those finishing bottom of the group will go forward to the placings match-ups that determine 13th-16th.
Watch every match of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup live on Sky Sports. Coverage continues on Sunday with the final matches of the first preliminary stage and stay up to date at SkySports.com/netball and @SkyNetball
