PEEBLES' Cerys Finn and Emily Nicholl from Biggar are in South Africa with the Scottish Thistles squad for the 2023 Netball World Cup.

The Scots were drawn in pool B alongside Malawi, Barbados and England.

Vice-captain Nicholl, who is known for her relentless playing style and unwavering determination, started in the opening game against Malawi on Friday (July 28) while youngster Finn, who won her first senior cap against South Africa last November, was listed among the substitutes.

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The Scots led for three quarters of the game but in the last quarter the African team showed their experience to win 55-49.

The following day in their second pool match, the Scots beat Barbados 53-44.

On Sunday the Thistles lost 62-37 to England.

However, victory over Barbados was enough to see the team advance to pool F alongside Australia, Tonga and Fiji.

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In the opening game, which took place at 8am on Monday, the world’s number one team Australia proved too strong for the Thistles, winning 76-37.

The next game against Tonga, who are ranked seventh in the world, on Tuesday was a closer affair. However, the Scots lost 55-46.

Speaking after the match, an optimistic head coach Tamsin Greenway said: “We knew it was going to be a real challenge with Tonga today, we wanted to take it to them. I think the frustration comes because we were right in that game.

“Every match has been different, so we’ve had games where we have taken the lead and not be able to hold on, we’ve had ups and downs in different quarters.

“I think this match was great to show the fight and resilience we’ve got and we’re certainly not a team that hold back.

“There is still loads to come from us, at the end of the day some of our stats show a really good story but at some point we have to start delivering on it.”

Finn started in goal for Scotland’s game against Fiji which took place on Thursday and ended in a 62-46 victory for the Thistles.

The Scots now face Wales in the ninth/tenth-place play off at 5pm on Saturday live on BBC iplayer.