The Cook Islands netball side played the undefeated Tonga in the do or die match at the World Cup last night.

The Joy Bates-coached side went down to Samoa 35-54 in its second match on Wednesday night after beating Papua New Guinea 66-48 in the opener.

Cook Islands will need to finish in the top two this weekend in order to make it through to the 2023 Netball World Cup to be held in Cape Town, South Africa.

The loss against Samoa and two tough matches against Tonga (played last night) and Fiji tonight means the national team’s chances of making the World Cup is all but over.

Coach Joy Bates yesterday told Cook Islands News: “We always anticipate matches with our Pacific sisters to be physical, last night (Wednesday) was no exception. For those who saw the game they will have seen the girls put their bodies on the line, but in the end, we were just outmuscled by share physicality not skill.”

“We played our style of game in patches so our work on for the team tonight (Thursday) is to keep our structure and style of play but to be ready for the physicality that Tonga will bring.

“We are really proud of our girls how they stood up to Samoa and we are ready for tonight.”

Bates earlier said: “Netball Cook Islands has been focused on building local talent, which is evident in the number of players we have playing for clubs in Rarotonga and the inclusion of eight under 21 players to the national side of which we have six new players to the wider squad.”