After their seven-goal blitz against Equatorial Guinea, the Zambians were next on the hit list of the on-form South Africans.

Thembi Kgatlana failed to add to her scoring charts as she couldn’t guide in a well-weighted cross from the left- grafting it wide instead.

But it wasn’t long before she made amends with an expertly taken finish from inside the box inside the opening 10 minutes.

A minute was all it took for Zambia to bounce back with Rachel Kundananji blasting home the equaliser.

Two minutes later, the nation of the Copper belts were forced to make an early change after Agness Musase left for Irene Lungu.

After a tightly contested battle set out across the middle of the park, Banyana were struggling to beat down their counterparts with the lack of quality in the final third there for all to see.

Instead, Zambia came close to breaking through when poor defending from Banyana’s defence needed Kylie Swart to race off her line to make a save a scenario which unfolded on two instances.

Exciting bit of play from Banyana played in Refiloe Jane to have a crack at goal, but she missed the target completely three minutes to halftime.

Changes at the break saw Jermain Seoposenwe replacing Busisiwe Ndimeni. Zambia continued throwing all the bodies forward, with Banyana unable to cope with the pressure.

Top scorer Kgatlana missed the easiest of chances after doing all the hard work to get past the defence and round the keeper, she failed to put the icing on the cake with a finish to an empty net.

This sequence of action continued for both sides with their lack of killer instinct failing to propel them to hit the ground running in the last third.

As a result, the game ended in a draw with Banyana advancing to the next round along with the Super Falcons of Nigeria.