The Sunshine Girls will face defending champions Australia in a massive semifinal showdown at the Commonwealth Games Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, this afternoon. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Jamaica time, while England and New Zealand will contest the first semifinal at 9 a.m. Today’s encounter is a repeat of the Commonwealth Games final four years ago in Birmingham, England, where Australia defeated Jamaica 55-51 to deny the Sunshine Girls what would have been a historic gold medal. The Sunshine Girls enter the semifinal in encouraging form after producing their best performance of the tournament in a commanding 78-24 victory over Wales in their final Pool B match on Thursday. Jamaica’s head coach, Sasher-Gaye Henry-Wright, said the players are in high spirits as they look forward to a very tough battle with the Australians. “The vibes are good in the camp and the expectations are that we are here to compete and these are the things that we live for,” said Henry-Wright. “We expect them to come out hard because they are the number one team in the world. We also know how strong they are but we will just have to put on that same pressure and take care of our balls and be patient and dominant. “We know that it is not going to be an easy one for us and so we are going to have to fight right to the end of the game,” she added. Jamaica’s netballers have registered four victories and one defeat from their five matches in the tournament, with their only loss coming against New Zealand during the preliminary round. Henry-Wright noted that discipline and ball security will be crucial if the Sunshine Girls are to upset the defending champions. “We are also hoping that it is going to be fair contest and so we just have to stay calm and just take care of the ball but we don’t have to be perfect but we just have to be relentless for the 60 minutes of the game on Saturday. So we have to be keep it tight and fast and ensure that we meet our targets for this game,” she said. Henry-Wright also stressed the importance of patience in attack and limiting the turnovers that have troubled the team at times during the competition. “This game is all about being patient and calm in the attack and working together and feeding off each other and just ensuring that we limit our turnovers because it has been a bother for us, but I think yesterday’s (Thursday) game against Wales really showed that we have the ability to take care of the ball,” she said. The Sunshine Girls will once again rely on the shooting combination of Romelda Aiken-George, Shanice Beckford and Rhea Dixon, while Nicole Dixon-Rochester and Jodi-Ann Ward are expected to control the midcourt. Captain Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Latanya Wilson will anchor the defence for the Jamaicans. Meanwhile, the Australians will enter the contest as the favourites, having maintained a perfect record of five wins from five matches so far in the championships.