Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls produced a sensational third quarter performance to defeat host South Africa 67-49 in their top-of-the table clash in Pool C of the Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday.

The victory was the third straight of the tournament for Jamaica as they look towards a deep championship run.

The win was also sweet revenge for the Sunshine Girls, who were beaten 55-52 by the South Africans in their last meeting at the NWC in 2019 in Liverpool, England.

The Jamaicans, who are ranked fourth in the world, one place above the South Africans, started the match slowly but they still managed to carve out a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Captain and goal shooter Jahniele Fowler was very instrumental for the Sunshine Girls in the first period as she netted 11 of her team’s 16 goals while goal attack Shanice Beckford scored the other five goals for the Jamaicans.

The Sunshine Girls, who very solid in the second stanza, increased their lead by two goals at the end of the second quarter to go in with a 32-26, lead at half time.

Jamaica’s head coach Connie Francis moved Jodi-Ann Ward from wing defence to goal defence and Latanya Wilson from goal defence to wing defence at the start of the third period. The move quickly paid off for the Jamaicans who held the South Africans to just three goals in the period while scoring 20 as they romped to a 52-29 lead at the end of the period.

Fowler, who was taken out of the game with eight minutes remaining in the final period and replaced by Romelda Aiken-George, top scored for the Jamaicans with 39 goals from 40 attempts. She received support from Beckford who shot 19 from 22, Aiken-George six from six and Rebekah Robinson three from four. Lenize Potgieter top scored for the South Africans with a perfect 17 goals from 17 attempts.

The Sunshine Girls will face another African side, Uganda, in the quarterfinals round of the competition on Monday. Match time is 9am Jamaica time.