On Sunday the Sunshine Girls of Jamaica were too strong for South Africa by claiming a 67-49 win to remain unbeaten and to finish at the top of Pool C.

At the halfway mark South Africa trail by just six points, but in the third quarter-final the team from the Caribbean took the game away from the hosts.

South Africa fought back well in the final 15-minute period by outscoring their opponents 20 to 15, but the damage was already done.

The captain Bongi Msomi said there were certainly positives to take form the defeat against the world fourth ranked team, but the focus now turns to the next stage of the World Cup, which includes facing the champions, New Zealand on Wednesday.

“It’s always best to play in front of your home crowd but mostly I’m pleased with how we started. The girls really stood strong.

“There were a few patches where we could have been better and I think this is a lesson.

“The World Cup doesn’t stop today. Yes, there are couple of tough games that we are going to come up against but if we can put together some of the great performances we had today, I think we can look forward to what’s next.”

The Proteas finished second in the pool and move to move to Pool G for the second preliminary stage.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport