KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Sunshine Girls barely made it pass the number-six ranked Malawi with a 63-62 win in their final qualification-round Pool E match in the Allphones Arena at the Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia.

The Girls won by a single point to join Australia, New Zealand and England in the semi-finals on Saturday.

The Jamaicans will face their strongest opponent yet, when they take on the world number-one ranked Australians in the second semi-finals. New Zealand and England will contest the first.

The Sunshine Girls ended the first half with a comfortable 38-29 lead. But, upon resumption, the Africans covered significant ground to trash the Jamaicans 17-10. They outscored the Sunshine Girls 5-0 in the last two-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter.

The blowout prompted the return of Sunshine Girls goal attack Shanice Beckford, who was subbed for Anna Kay Griffiths in the third. Stacian Facey was also brought in – replacing goalkeeper Nicole Aiken-Pinnock – to shore-up the defensive third.

However, the Malawians clipped the Girls 16-15 to take the fourth quarter.

The impressive pair of Mwayi Kumwenda (39/41) and Sindi Simtowe (23/23) brought the Africans within a whisker of trouncing the world number four Sunshine Girls.

Romelda Aiken netted 44 from 48 tries, while Beckford finished with a near perfect 17 goals from 18 attempts. Aiken (157 goals) is the Sunshine Girls’ leading scorer ahead of Jhaniele Fowler-Reid (127), Shanice Beckford (67), and Anna Kay Griffiths (30).

Pool E results: New Zealand (3 wins), Jamaica (2 wins, 1 loss), Malawi (1 win, 2 losses), and Uganda (3 losses).

Gorgette Beckford