New Zealand netballers in jittery Sri Lanka opener

By Susil Premalal

The touring netball team from New Zealand’s Lincoln University recorded a hard-fought 62-54 victory over the Sri Lanka team in the opening match of their six-game series played at the Dadalla Indoor Stadium in Galle yesterday.

The youthful New Zealanders eventually secured victory by an eight-point margin. 

They arrived in Sri Lanka after a long flight and had to throw in everything to keep at bay the enthusiastic Sri Lankans having only a few hours of rest before the match.

Sri Lanka trailed 11-15 and 10-16 in the opening two quarters before fighting back to win the third quarter 15-12. The final quarter ended evenly at 18-18. But the New Zealanders held on to secure the win.

Sri Lanka head coach Somitha de Alwis said she was satisfied with her players’ performance against the stronger New Zealanders.

“This was our first international-level match in nearly two years. Considering the quality of the opposition, our players performed well and have the ability to win some of the remaining matches in the series,” she told the Daily Mirror.

The second match of the six-game series is scheduled to be played today at 10.00 am at the same venue.

The series has been organised by the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL) to provide the squad with valuable international exposure ahead of the 14th Asian Senior Netball Championship, which will be held in Hong Kong from August 6 to 15.

The Lincoln University team will remain in Sri Lanka until July 9 and will also play matches in Digana, the University of Kelaniya Indoor Stadium and the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo.