Australia, who are looking to avenge their loss to New Zealand in the 2019 final, won the first quarter 16-13 but came unstuck in the second at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Malawi defenders Loreen Ngwira and Towera Vinkhumbu successfully figured out how to box in the Australian shooters and produced numerous turnovers in Group F of the second preliminary round tie.

However, Ngwira went off injured with an ankle injury before the half-time break which saw the two teams level at 28-28 as the Queens outscored Australia 15-12 in the second quarter.

The Diamonds made changes for the third quarter as Sophie Garbin came on as goal shooter and Jo Weston came in as goal defence.

The 11-time world champions then started to run away with the lead.

With more than 60 per cent of the possession and landing an almost 92 per cent shot success rate in the last 15 minutes they prevailed 70-46.

Singapore took their first win of the tournament yesterday but were unable to continue the momentum as they fell to a 55-50 defeat at the hands of Barbados in Group E.

Also in Group E, Zimbabwe cruised past Sri Lanka 71-36 while Tonga got the better of Scotland 55-47 in Group F. 

The 2019 bronze medallists England then recorded a colossal 89-28 victory against Fiji, also in Group F, to round out the day's play.