CAPE TOWN –  The victory takes them to the top of the group and as a result they will face Namibia – who finished last in group B – in the quarterfinals today.

As in all their previous games, there was no stopping the South Africans who cruised to a 29-0 lead after the first quarter in a period of play in  which the Americans failed to even register a single attempt at goal.

They eventually broke the duck in the 18th minute, signalled by a huge roar  from their army of supporters.  South Africa continued to dominate with the visitors, clearly rattled by their pace and accuracy and by halftime   they had stretched the deficit to 52-1.

The South Africans using the match to experiment with different combinations, seemed to lose their way slightly after back-up centre  Danique du Toit was taken off after injuring her right ankle well into the  third quarter.

Coach Dorette Badenhorst confirmed the loss of focus as the Americans found their second breath towards the end of the match, scoring nine goals in the final 15 minutes.

“We definitely lost concentration after the injury so from now, if that happens we must regroup as a team and maintain our focus,” said Badenhorst. 

“As far as Danique is concerned, I think she’ll be out for the rest of the  tournament. 
“We brought her on to try another centre in that combination. It is a blow to the team, but the girls remain confident and will go full  out.”

She, however, remained confident in her team who along with Great Britain,  remain unbeaten heading into the play-offs.

“I think we have really played good netball over the last three days.  We  set our goals and we worked hard to play our type of game. 

“We are  building up to the quarterfinals.

“ It won’t be an easy game tomorrow and I think the girls are psyched up to perform well again,” said Badenhorst, who has been keeping a close eye on the Namibians.

“We started our preparation this morning, analysing their game and this afternoon the girls will come back from recovery to watch Namibia take on Jamaica. 

“Each player will go through their position and who they play against, so I think we are prepared for our next game.”

 SA started their campaign with wins over Ireland and Zimbabwe.