NZ crush Jamaica
Published:Thursday | August 19, 2010 | 12:00 AM
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (CMC):
Jamaica failed to build on a confident start and slumped to their fourth straight defeat on their tour Down Under when New Zealand crushed them 58-35 in the first Test yesterday at the Canterbury Arena.
The Sunshine Girls are missing several leading players for the tour and are looking for some redemption after a being swept in a three-Test series loss to Australia.
The Jamaicans started confidently leading 3-0, but they faded as the New Zealanders overcame their slow start and went toe-to-toe with the visitors to just get their noses out front 11-10 at the break.
The visitors saw the home team increase the tempo with crisp passes and their intense defending created opportunities that kept the ball in their possession, leading to a 29-21 lead at half-time.
The Girls continued to struggle, with their main offensive weapon Romelda Aiken coming under pressure from the Silver Ferns' defenders and were ahead 41-28 after three quarters.
The Jamaicans had little left in the final period and New Zealand finished with a flourish in a rampant final stanza. The Silver Ferns and the Sunshine Girls meet in the second Test on Saturday in Napier.