Malawi Queens survive early scare to beat Sri Lanka

Malawi national netball team, the Queens survived an early scare from Sri Lanka to beat the visitors 71-51 in an international test match played Friday evening at College of Medicine indoor court.

It was a laboured victory for sixth ranked Queens and the basket margin of 71-51 does not reflect the true picture of the match because there was very little difference between the home side and their visitors, ranked 26th by the International Netball Federation (INF).

Lead by legendary netball head coach Griffin Zagaro Saenda Senior the Queens relied the services of Joana Kachilika and Madalitso Mkandawire as their Gk and GD while Shirah Dimba was featured at the centre with Catherine Yikwenga and Rihana Msope playing on WD and WA positions whereas snipper Sindie Simutowe Msowoya and Alinafe Kamwala played upfront as GS and GA respectively.

It was so close encounter. Sri Lanka dominated the first quarter by using their height advantage. They run circles around the short Malawi players. Their goal shooter, 40 year-old  Tharjani Sivalingam probably the tallest netballer ever seen, proved a menace as she made light work of Malawi defence like it were cherry picking.

It was no wonder that the first quarter finished in favour of the visitors at 17-16. Malawi put up some resistance in the second quarter but it was not enough to peel away from the visitors. The Queens did not seem to have a game plan to circumvent the height advantage that Sri Lanka had which was very frustrating.

This is a minus on the coaching pannel.  This was not the first test match for Sri Lanka. They had already watched them play against Kukoma Diamond and Blue Eagles Sisters but could not come up with a strategy, a game plan to combat taller opponents.

It was not until the third quarter when the Queens made changes, bringing England-based professionals in the shape of Joyce Mvula and Laureen Ngwira that the Queens improved.

The most telling substitution was the coming in of Takondwa Lwazi. Her presence completely snuffed the life out of Sri Lanka. Lwazi completely dominated the central area denying supply to Sri Lanka’s lethal goal shooter. For the first time Malawi led as the 3rd quarter finished 52-40.

In the last quarter Malawi showed some sparkle with their signature short passing game that makes them special in world netball. Sri Lanka completely lost shape and crumbled as the Queens run riot dominating possession.

Lwazi orchestrated attacks in flamboyant style so much she was a joy to watch. The midfield dominace paid off as the Queens  stretched the victory margin to 71-51.

Sri Lanks may have lost but they look a much improved side. They will take home a lot of positive aspects from the test matches. They just need to work on their concentration particularly on passing accuracy. There was a time they misplaced too many passes even throwing the ball out.

And they should also improve on their fitness levels so that they can endure to the last quarter keeping the same level of performance. Their strength seemed to fade as the game progressed.

As for the Queens, the test match has exposed some lapses in the team. Some players lack intensity in their play. The coaches need to work on a proper game plan which should be executed to the last detail. They need to improve their passing game and ball possession.

The Queens, who are preparing for the African Championships in Lusaka, Zambia from 13th August, will need more than what they gave against Sri Lanka to lift the trophy. They will meet other tall players from Kenya and Uganda so they need to come up with a good game plan.

The coaches have a lot to do to so that the team is 100% ready. From I witnessed the Queens are at 50% at the moment.

Few things observed are that it was unpleasant for most people who watched this international netball match to see that at this digital age we are still using blackboards for updates the baskets. The organizers hired the poor sound system which even failed to play the national anthems.

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