A 21-18 success was a massive confidence booster for the trio of Derek Boswell (lead), Malcolm de Sousa and skip Ross Davis, and they went on to register a victory in their second match as well – 27-4 against Botswana.
Davis said: ‘Beating Australia is certainly a huge confidence boost. We knew beforehand that we were good enough to give them a game . . . to get across the winning line was a really good result for us.
‘Australia were favourites for the triples, they are among the best countries in the world and it’s a huge upset out here but a good result for us [Jersey].
‘The game went really well, we had a good start [taking an 8-0 lead after three ends] so that gave us a bit of a cushion and we all bowled well.
‘Australia did get back to lead 11-8 after we had taken the first eight points and it was tight all the way through and we managed to hold our own.’
The lead changed five times in a dramatic contest.
Jersey were trailing by three shots at the end of the 16th end, but Davis explained a dramatic finale: ‘We were holding one shot on the 17th end when Australia had the misfortune of dropping a further two behind. We eventually took the end with a four to lead by one point overall – and then gain two on the next end for victory.
‘We followed the win up by defeating Botswana, so we’re in a good position in the groups with matches against Fiji and Brunei to play.
‘Conditions are perfect. We did have to go off for 20 minutes in our second game because of a heavy shower, but the greens are nice and true and not running as quick as we thought they might.’
Jersey’s Rachel MacDonald, in the women’s singles, suffered defeats in both of her matches.
MacDonald went down 21-13 to Scotland’s Caroline Brown and then, in an inter-Channel Islands clash, suffered a 21-12 reverse to Guernsey’s current world champion Lucy Beere, who had also lost her opening game.
Jersey’s women’s fours, Doreen Moon, Chris Grimes, Eileen Vowden and Joan Renouf, raced into a 5-0 advantage after three ends against New Zealand only to be pegged back to 5-5 after six ends.
A seven on the next end put the Kiwis firmly in control and they went on to register a 19-9 success.
The Jersey four were also defeated in their second match, 22-9 by Zambia.
