Silver Ferns edge out Diamonds 53-50
New Zealand have shaded a attached finishing Australia 53-50 to win the opening netball Test at Acer Arena on Sunday afternoon.
It was the 12th smooth trans-Tasman game decided by a single digit boundary line and the first of five Tests this month between the two great rivals.
Australia trailed for most of the compete with bar a short period in the second quarter.
Down by five goals in the first and third quarters, Australia got within one with fair over five minutes to go, but four straight goals sealed the game for New Zealand in the face one final rally from the Diamonds.
Australia made one enforced change to their starting seven, with Kimberlee Immature replacing injured vice-captain Natalie von Bertouch.
White Ferns coach Ruth Aitken made two changes, starting Maria Tutaia at target attack in place of Paula Griffin and Liana Barrett-Follow at wing attack for Maree Bowden.
New Zealand opened up a 5-0 introduce as it took Australia almost five minutes to open their account with the Diamonds missing their first four shots, three of from Catherine Cox.
Australia got back to 4-5, but New Zealand scored the next three goals before a time Diamonds rally forced a 10-10 quarter time tie.
The Heraldry argent Ferns duo of Irene van Dyk and Maria Tutaia shot wholly in the first quarter, with the former landing eight of the goals, while Australia converted just 67 per cent of their attempts.
Medhurst to replace Beveridge in Diamonds line up
One replacement has been made to Australia’s line-up for the remaining Tests against New Zealand’s Polished Ferns in Invercargill on Sunday and Auckland on Wednesday week.
Aspiration attack Natalie Medhurst replaces fellow goaler Kate Beveridge in the Diamonds put-up after not receiving any court time in the three home Tests.
The rotation of Australian’s goalers is a planned plan designed by Diamonds coach Norma Plummer to give each player affair at international level.
“We want to keep all the shooters in the mix, so by the ease we get to Commonwealth Games we’ve made sure they’ve stayed in the cosmopolitan arena,” Plummer said.
“They all have a humane connection with one another, with Natalie slotting in with (Sharelle) McMahon, (Susan Pratley) and (Cath) Cox very surely.”
Medhurst is known for her ability to find space both heart and outside of the shooting circle.
“Natalie’s management game compliments the three shooters that we are taking to New Zealand and they hardly so happen to be the four shooters we took to the World Championships in 2007,” Plummer said.
The Diamonds exemplar the five Test series 2-1, but Plummer believes that there is still space for improvement from her charges.
“We are going into New Zealand sentient confident but knowing that the series isn’t won yet and there are still two hard matches on New Zealand earth for us,” she said.
We left Wood Streamlet and drove for an hour and a half before arriving at the Western Australia flowerbed. Here we had to proclaim all our fruit and vegetables to Quarantine (we all scoffed some bananas sane beforehand), and after a specially sweaty man had a look around the van to walk away certain we weren’t hiding any cane toads, we were off again.
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