Having won the first test by 30 goals and the second by 16, many in the capacity crowd felt that the match could be a runaway win for England, but Malawi had other ideas.  Inspired once more by the irrepressible Mary Waya, the visitors led 5-0 early on, before allowing their focus to slip and England to regain some of their poise and control to tie the first quarter 11 all. 

Thereafter, England's centre court pace and power, inspired by a matchwinning performance from TeamBath's former England U21 captain Sara Bayman, and a gritty and commited defensive job by England captain Amanda Newton was enough to see the home side through to win in front of a capacity crowd at Wembley.

Louisa Brownfield withstood some heavy physical challenges to top score for England with 38 goals, while Malawi's veteran shooter Mary Waya was once again her side's inspiration. 

Skipper Amanda Newton

In her final international appearance, Waya scored 18 goals and dazzled the crowd with her fast hands and clever changes of pace and direction.  Meanwhile, teenager Mwayi Kumwende showed that she could be a talent for the future, taking some seemingly impossible balls under intense pressure and netting key goals for her side.

Talking after the match, England head coach Sue Hawkins felt her team had battled hard: "We started very slowly, probably because our warm up wasn't that sharp, but I was pleased with how we worked our way back into the game. Malawi have posed us several challenges this week, and it is great for world netball that they are emerging as a real force to be reckoned with."

It is great for world netball that Malawi are emerging as a real force to be reckoned with.

Sue Hawkins

The success of The Co-operative International series has been recognised back home in Malawi, where the government has today announced a $2 million US grant to the national netball association, and committed to build the
country's first indoor netball court so that its teams can continue to train and improve.



STARTING LINE UPS
England:  GS Brownfield, GA Cookey, WA Corbin, C Elsley, WD Siddall, GD Beckford Chambers, GK Newton (capt)

SEARCH NETBALL for:

Changes/substitutions:  1st Q (following injury time out):  C Bayman, Newton to GD. Beckford Chambers to GK, 3rd Q:  Newton to WD, GD Hutchinson,   4th Q:  Hutchinson to WD, Newton to GD

Malawi:  GS Mzagada, GA Waya, WA Chawinga, C Mpinganjira, WD Gedion, GD Mtukule, GK Mwafulirwa
Changes/substitutions: 2nd Q:  C Malenga, 3rd Q:  GS Kumwenda, Mpinganjira to C


SHOOTING STATS
England:  Brownfield 38/44, Cookey 23/34

Sara Bayman, player of the match

Malawi:  Kumwenda 8/9, Mzagada 8/10, Waya 18/25

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