Manchester Thunder beat Nottingham Forest 81-65 in the Netball Super League for their second successive victory.

Thunder dominated the opening quarter and led 39-29 at half-time despite a Forest fightback.

The hosts eased to their win, with goal attack Elmere van der Berg scoring 52 goals and captain Amy Carter named player of the match.

Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt was in attendance at Manchester’s Belle Vue Arena.

Elsewhere, London Pulse sealed a comfortable 78-42 win against London Mavericks to remain unbeaten at the top of the table.

Both sides had two wins from two going into the match, but Pulse raced to a 40-19 lead at half-time and the Mavericks were unable to fight back.

Pulse wing-defence Zara Everitt was named player of the match.

The match between Cardiff Dragons and Birmingham Panthers, who were both searching for their first win, had to be abandoned because of an injury to Cardiff’s Leah Middleton.

Cardiff confirmed on social media that the fixture would be rearranged.

Player of the match, Manchester Thunder captain Amy Carter: “We met them [Forest] pre-season and they blew us out of the water so it was really nice to put the work in and grind it out.

“Our strength is bringing through our younger players, it’s really exciting that we can blend that in with our squad.”

Manchester Thunder head coach Karen Greig: “I don’t think it was a very pretty game! We were quite stagnant at times and played too wide so I’d like to see us taking the attack a little more.

“But we’re still building, we’re learning a lot from each game. We let them back in towards the end of the second quarter so we’ll be honest about that and go back to the drawing board.

“But a 16-goal win at this point of the season, we’ll definitely take it.”

Nottingham Forest head coach Chelsea Pitman: “We can’t rely on chasing down a lead, we need to start better.

“Thunder played really well and they were quite comfortable. But I am really proud of the team, we will go back and review it and go again in round four.”

• Thunder’s Van der Berg replaces Pulse’s Olivia Tchine as the top scorer in the 2025 Super League, with 124 goals and a shooting accuracy of 85%

• Forest wing attack Brie Grierson led the way in the league for feeds in the opening two rounds, tallying 71 across the defeat by London Pulse and win against Cardiff Dragons. Grierson continued her form against Thunder, improving her tally to 82 – six clear of Pulse’s Alicia Scholes in second.

• South Africa international Nicola Smith finally made her debut for Thunder having moved to the club from Loughborough Lightning, having missed the opening rounds with a broken arm.

Friday 28 March

Manchester Thunder 81-65 Nottingham Forest

London Pulse 78-42 London Mavericks

Cardiff Dragons v Birmingham Panthers: Match abandoned

Remaining round three fixture

Sunday, 30 March

Leeds Rhinos v Loughborough Lightning (16:00 BST)

Round four fixtures

Friday, 4 April

Leeds Rhinos v London Pulse (19:00 BST)

Saturday, 5 April

Nottingham Forest v Loughborough Lightning (15:00 BST)

Cardiff Dragons v Manchester Thunder (19:00 BST)

Sunday, 6 April

London Mavericks v Birmingham Panthers (16:00 BST) – live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app, and on demand

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