Netball World Cup 2019: England beat Scotland to progress in Liverpool

England progressed to the second preliminary round at the Netball World Cup with a 70-34 win over Scotland.

Scotland, ranked seventh in the world, failed to match the quality of the Roses, whose 36-year-old shooter Rachel Dunn scored 49 goals from 52 shots.

England, the Commonwealth champions, have two wins from two matches and will secure top spot in Group D if they beat Samoa on Sunday (11:00 BST).

A win for Scotland against Uganda (11:25 BST) will see them go through.

The top three teams from each of the groups move into the second preliminary round.

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If Scotland lose against Uganda, a team ranked one place above them, their progression could depend on goal difference or England's result.

The Thistles won their opener against Samoa on Friday and they have never been higher in the world rankings coming into this World Cup.

But England, third in the world and 2015 bronze medallists, showed why they are one of the favourites for the title in Liverpool.

Tracey Neville made several changes from their first match with Dunn starting in attack, and the Roses stalwart impressed throughout - keeping a 100% scoring record until the back end of the second quarter.

"It was an enjoyable game. We knew Scotland would come out strong. They have improved massively," Dunn told BBC Radio 5 live. "We are happy with the performance so we need to keep doing that throughout the tournament.

"We all bring different skills to the table. Against different opposition you need different sorts of combinations. The versatility brings strength to the squad. If something isn't working, you can switch it up and keep the opposition guessing.

"This is my third World Cup but I think it's the most special because every time you go out, the home crowd are roaring and they are right behind you."

Thistles coach Gail Parata made 20 changes to her on-court line-up during the match, attempting different combinations to stifle England.

But it was to no avail as the Roses punished every mistake, scoring 20 times from turnovers and restricting Scotland to only 14 second half goals.

"Some of the girls have never played a top England side like this so I thought they did really well," captain Claire Maxwell told BBC Radio 5 live.

"It's the only way you get better - competing against better teams. We learnt a lot and that's exactly what we want when we go into the game with Uganda. It's a crunch match for us."

Following the match it was announced that England defender Layla Guscoth, who pulled up injured after 11 minutes and left the Liverpool Arena to receive treatment, ruptured her Achilles and will not compete in the rest of the tournament.

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