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Veronica Gwaze in PRETORIA, South Africa
ZIMBABWE senior netball team Goal Attacker, Ursula Ndlovu, scooped the most outstanding moment-of-the-match award in their clash against the President Smileys here at the Telkom netball league games. The friendly game came as part of the preparations for the Netball World Cup slated for Liverpool, England, July 12-21.

It took up to the 36th minute for Ndlovu to express herself and show why those who believe the lethal shooter was not the perfect player for the team were probably wrong.

Receiving a pass from Centre Ndaizivei Madzikangava, captain Perpetua Siyachitem fired a high bullet into the ring which took Ndlovu’s wild stretch, tactic and one-handed stylish fishing to catch the ball and accurately land below the goal post.

“I am overwhelmed at how the hardwork I put into this has paid off and, at this moment, I wish my mother was alive and watching.

“She was a netball player, too, and ironically she also played Goal Attack.
‘’She died in April 2014 and getting such an honour brought some emotion because she was my fan, she always came to watch my games and I know she could have been here today.

“Although people said a lot, I did not have anything to prove to them save to play my heart out and I am happy the hard work paid off,” she said.

SuperSport netball analyst, Zanele Mdodana, said she was pleased with the level of skill, ball control and confidence Ndlovu showed.

“What she did is out of this world, for a moment I did not think she would catch the ball but when she gave that extra ordinary stretch to land accurately, I just said “wow, this is the moment”.

“Even the Siyachitema pass itself, it depicted how much the team trust each other and understand each other’s strengths,” she said.

In their second match, against the President’s Stars, a men’s team, Gems fell 47-82.
Despite the defeat, Gems head coach Lloyd Makunde showered praises on his charges’ defence.
“Men are always fast and their games are highly physical so, playing against such a team was really a privilege to us and regardless of the scoreline, I am happy with the defence.

“It was the best platform for us to evaluate ourselves because only under so much pressure could we be able to identify our weaknesses which is why at these friendlies we had to give everyone game time.
“Now we go back and focus on the areas that need fine-tuning,” said Makunde.