Australia vs Zimbabwe Prediction & Betting Tips - Netball World Cup 2023

Prediction published on 27/07/2023, 11:45  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 27/07/2023 at 11:55

The 2023 Netball World Cup will get underway this week, and in the second match of the competition, Australia will take on Zimbabwe on Friday. Australia are currently ranked 1st in the world, while Zimbabwe are ranked 13th. Group A also includes Fiji and Tonga, who will play earlier in the day. The 11-time world champions, Australia, were dethroned by New Zealand in 2019 as they were beaten by the narrowest of margins, 52-51, in the final moments of the match. That loss denied them their fourth consecutive title dating back to 2007. Due to their world ranking, Australia qualified automatically for the World Cup and will be determined to win back the trophy. Since the last World Cup, Australia won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last year, as well as the 2023 Netball Quad Series, which included South Africa, New Zealand, and England, back in January. Australia won that series with a perfect record of three wins in three. They are the favourites in this competition according to most bookmakers and are massively fancied to win this match by a big margin.

Zimbabwe come into the tournament currently ranked 13th in the world and are the fifth-lowest ranked of all the teams in the competition. This is just their second appearance at the World Cup, with the previous being in 2019, when they finished in eighth place. Despite finishing third at the Netball World Cup Qualifiers - Africa, the Gems earned a place in this competition due to South Africa, who finished first, gaining automatic qualification as the host nation. Zimbabwe competed in the Diamond Challenge in South Africa toward the end of last year and finished third in the four-team tournament, managing only a draw against Scotland while losing the other three matches in the competition. Zimbabwe were on the receiving end of a 73-37 defeat when they played the Australians at the last World Cup, and they will likely find it very difficult in this one as well.