England netball: Jamaica beat Roses 63-53 in final match of series

England will defend their Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham next year

Jamaica put in a dominant performance to defeat England 63-53 in the final game of the three-match Vitality Roses Reunited Series.

Jamaica, who had lost the opening two matches, led for most of the game and cruised to the half-time break eight ahead at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena.

Despite their second-half efforts, the Roses were unable to peg back the visitors.

England, who beat Jamaica 66-47 on Saturday, have won the series 2-1.

Jamaica's Shamera Sterling, the player of the match, said: "We'd lost the first two games so we wanted to come out today and fight for it.

"We were determined to start stronger today and we wanted to fight for the win. It's a better reflection of who we are as a team. I'm proud of the girls and glad we could show our potential."

England's Natalie Haythornthwaite, who was player of the series, said: "Jamaica came out incredibly strong today, so it's disappointing to not get the third win of the series, but I'm really proud of the performances we put in overall.

"The level of belief is really strong in this team, you've got to have that going into a major tournament and it's really growing too. It's a real honour to be a part of this group."

The Vitality Roses Reunited Series comes after the previously planned contest with Jamaica was postponed back in January because of the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions in place between the two countries.

England will defend their Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham next year.

Quarter-time scores

• Q1 - England 11-14 Jamaica

• Q2 - England 24-32 Jamaica

• Q3 - England 40-48 Jamaica

• Q4 - England 53-63 Jamaica

Starting seven

England: GK Usoro-Brown, GD Guscoth, WD Guthrie, C Malcolm, WA Haythornthwaite, GA Harten, GS Cardwell