COVENTRY, England (CMC):

Goal attack Pamela Cookey hit a game-high 25 goals for England to beat Jamaica 57-47 yesterday for a winning 2-0 lead in their three-Test netball series.

England led all the quarters at the chilly Coventry Sky Dome Arena and overcame the Sunshine Girls, whose captain Simone Forbes had a superb game and 96 per cent shooting accuracy.

The last match in the series is set for Thursday at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham.

Dominant performance

"It was a strong and dominant performance from all the girls, who worked hard as a team to finish and win the series," said England's captain Sonia Mkoloma, after her side led the quarters 16-12, 29-24, and 41-34 en route to their 10-goal victory.

The world's third-ranked English girls, who won the first game 67-54 on Sunday night in London, engaged the Jamaicans in a stirring first-quarter battle and ended that frame with a four-goal advantage.

In a bruising contest, the Jamaicans showed intensity and used the second quarter to deliver their most competitive phase of the game, outscored only 13-12 by the home side as they went within one goal of the lead twice but went to the half-time break trailing by five.

The Jamaicans, ranked fourth in the world, battled hard in the third quarter but were again outscored (12-10) as England stretched their advantage to seven goals heading into the last quarter.

Outstanding match

Forbes had an outstanding match netting goals for Jamaica, missing only once as she sank 24 goals from 25 attempts.

Romelda Aiken netted 23 of 30 for the Jamaicans but player of the match Cookey scored 25 of 27, and backed up by Louisa Brownfield (17/20) and Jo Harten (15/18) England went on a 16-13 run in the last quarter for a clear win.

Assistant coach Annette Daley said the Caribbean side battled hard but failed to deliver at key moments during the game.

"It was a good game, the girls were fighting, working overtime to get a victory but it was tough and I am not sure if the cold temperature wasn't a factor," she said.

"It was terrible inside and we had to give the girls on the bench blankets," Daley added.