Malawi Queens’ long wait for a victory over England continued after the world number nine side suffered a comprehensive 73-38 defeat to the third-ranked Roses in a Pool A match at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
The defeat underlined England’s continued dominance over the Queens, who have repeatedly found the Roses too strong whenever the two sides have met in international competitions.
England made an explosive start, moving the ball at speed into the attacking circle while Malawi struggled to settle. The Queens failed to connect as a unit in the opening exchanges, with misplaced passes and poor movement allowing England to dictate the tempo.
Despite the shaky opening, Malawi gradually grew into the contest towards the end of the first quarter as goal shooter Mwawi Kumwenda and Takondwa Lwazi began linking up effectively. However, the damage had already been done as England established an 18-9 advantage.
Malawi were also let down by inconsistent shooting in the opening quarter, with Kumwenda converting only five of her seven attempts before Ethel Ng’ambi added the remaining goals. England’s disciplined defence forced the Queens into repeated backward passes and denied them space in the shooting circle.
The Queens showed greater purpose in the second quarter, matching England goal for goal during spells of an entertaining end-to-end contest.
Kumwenda’s shooting accuracy improved, but England continued to profit from accurate long balls and quick transitions.
Although Malawi narrowed the deficit slightly by scoring 14 goals in the quarter against England’s 19, they still trailed 37-23 at half-time.
The contest slipped further away from the Queens after the break. Malawi introduced Tendai Masamba in place of Kumwenda in the shooting circle, but the change failed to produce the desired impact as Masamba struggled for shooting accuracy soon after her introduction, although she improved later.
England tightened their grip on the match by controlling the centre third and repeatedly cutting through Malawi’s defence with ease. The Roses extended their lead to 55-33 at the end of the third quarter after outscoring the Queens 18-10.
The final quarter offered little resistance from Malawi as England maintained their intensity and defensive organisation. The Queens managed only five goals in the period while England added another 18 to seal an emphatic 73-38 victory.
After the match, Takondwa Lwazi admitted England deserved the win.
“They were the better team and better organised than us,” she acknowledged.
The result leaves Malawi with one win and two losses having lost their first match against South Africa in Pool A but later re-established their campaign with victory over Northern Ireland.
The Queens now face the tournament’s toughest challenge when they take on world champions Australia, who defeated England in their previous match.
Malawi will be hoping for a much-improved performance as they seek to revive their campaign and better their previous Commonwealth Games finish of seventh place in 2022.
The Queens’ best-ever result at the games remains fifth place, achieved in both 2010 and 2014.
