Netball: Australia strike back to claim series

Australia struck a blow ahead of the Commonwealth Games by beating New Zealand 46-40 in a tense, tight, high-action netball series decider here today.

The result gave the Diamonds the series 2-1 and meant they will be the first to have their names engraved on the new Constellation Cup.

The Australians put behind them a 19-goal defeat in Wellington three days ago and what developed here at Vector Arena was a contest that went goal for goal for large stretches.

However, with the scores locked at 31-31 at three-quarter time, the visitors produced a spurt early in the final quarter to kick clear.

While Australian coach Norma Plummer stuck with the same seven for the entire 60 minutes, New Zealand counterpart Ruth Aitken gave 10 members of her squad game time.

Aitken made one change to her starting seven, with Katrina Grant coming in at goal attack for Anna Scarlett, who sat out the match with a minor calf strain.

Grant ended up being named player of the match.

Plummer made three changes to the Australian line-up who began the 40-59 loss in Wellington, including elevating defender Susan Fuhrmann and shooter Natalie Medhurst from the bench.

Medhurst produced a strong performance that included 27 goals from 32 attempts for an 84 percent success rate.

Fuhrmann had outplayed New Zealand shooter Irene van Dyk after coming on midway during the opening test in Adelaide, which Australia won 48-43.

The pair provided another intriguing head-to-head contest, with the 1.96m Fuhrmann again causing problems.

Thrice she thwarted van Dyk's attempts on goal as the latter landed six of nine attempts in the opening quarter.

With goal attack Maria Tutaia also struggling to find her range early on, New Zealand shot at just 53 percent in that quarter.

Both teams put up the same number of shots in that period, but the greater accuracy of Diamonds Sharelle McMahon and Medhurst took their team out to a 14-9 advantage.

However, both van Dyk and Tutaia upped their strike rate in the second quarter as the Silver Ferns came back to tie the contest 22-22 at halftime.

Aitken made one change for the third quarter, resting van Dyk and bringing on Daneka Wipiiti, who had been impressive when introduced midway through the second test.

Wipiiti responded by swishing in her first attempt and she ended as the Silver Ferns' most accurate shooter with 12 goals from 14 attempts.

In a frantic third quarter, neither team could get a break on the other and the match remained locked up.

However, the Diamonds were able to shoot out to a four-goal lead early in the final quarter and held out to the end.

The teams now turn their attention to New Delhi, where New Zealand will defend their Commonwealth Games crown next month.