Mvula inspires Thunder to 18th-straight win
Malawi netball export Joyce Mvula on Sunday achieved an incredible 98 percent accuracy rate to inspire Manchester Thunder to an 18th straight win in United Kingdom’s (UK) Vitality Netball Superleague.
She scored 43 goals from 44 attempts as Thunder beat Saracens Mavericks 61-53 away to remain the only unbeaten side in the 11-team league.
“The pairing of [Eleanor] Cardwell and Mvula was perfect with the ball and relentless without it. Thunder turned the screw to take the lead and gradually increase it.
“[They] managed to win the third quarter and go 48-39 in front, thanks to their ability to slow the ball down and demonstrate their sheer skill,” reads part of a match report on the league’s website www.netballsl.com.
Mvula is second on the scorers‘chart with 651 goals. Ugandan Peace Priscovia of Surrey Storm leads the pack with 785 goals.
Thunder already qualified for the play-offs with some games to spare. They top the table with 54 points from 18-straight wins. Loughborough Lightning are second on 51 points from the same number of games.
“I am happy that we continue to maintain our unbeaten run in the league. This gives us confidence that we might lift the trophy this season,” Mvula said.
However, the going proved tough for her compatriot Towera Vinkhumbo-Nyirenda’s Strathyclyde Sirens who dropped from the top-eight following a 41-57 home defeat to London Pulse.
Sirens are now ninth with 15 points from 17 matches. Serven Stars anchor the table with nine points from 18 games. Sirens need to win their remaining three games to ensure a top-eight finish, which is a requirement to qualify for the Fast5 Championship.
On Sunday, Vinkhumbo-Nyirenda had eight penalties, an intercept and a turnover as Sirens suffered a 12th defeat of the season.
Nevertheless, the goalkeeper is a joint leader on the list of players with the most turnovers in the league as she is tied on 91 with Shaquanda Greene-Noel of Celtic Dragons. On intercepts, she is second with a total of 50, two behind the leader Layla Guscoth of Team Bath.
Malawi Queens coach Peace Chawinga-Kaluwa on Tuesday said she was happy with the individual perfomance of the players, saying that will help a lot as Malawi competes in the Commonwealth Games this July.
