Spendolini-Sirieix eyes second gold while netball and cricket stars chase finals

England netball prepare to face Australia in a mouth-watering netball semi-final while Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix will be watched by famous dad Fred as she dives for her second gold of the Games.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to Saturday’s major showdowns and reflects on Friday’s action as we enter the final weekend of competition.

England and Australia go head to head in their netball semi-final after the hosts thumped world champions New Zealand by 10 points to earn their place in the last four.

Australia limped through to the knockout stages after a shock defeat to Jamaica, but England coach Jess Thirlby is all too aware that the Australians – still smarting from their last-gasp loss on the Gold Coast – will be licking their wounds.

England’s cricketers made an emphatic statement by trouncing New Zealand on Friday, chasing down a paltry 72 with 50 balls to spare in a seven-wicket win to finish atop their group. They have now won six successive T20s and confidence is steadily building but Harmanpreet Kaur’s India are likely to present a step up in opposition.

A final against Australia or New Zealand awaits the winners, with the losers having the consolation of going into the bronze medal match.

Fresh from her victory in the women’s 10-metre platform final – watched by her TV star father Fred – teenager Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix gets the chance to extend her dream Games debut in the women’s 10m sychro platform final on Saturday.

The 17-year-old delivered a first senior international victory on Thursday evening at Sandwell Aquatics Centre, finishing ahead of England’s team-mate Lois Toulson to top the leaderboard by a huge 20.20 points.

Canada made England work hard for every point on the badminton court.

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