World champions Australia pulled clear late in a tight game to register a 60-55 victory over New Zealand and claim the Netball Quad Series title in Melbourne.
In an entertaining encounter at a sold-out Margaret Court Arena, Caitlin Bassett excelled for the Diamonds, scoring from 53 of her 60 shots and propelling her side to victory in their final competitive hit out before they look to retain the Constellation Cup in October.
Australian coach Lisa Alexander described the match as a great contest between the arch rivals and made special mention of Bassett’s contribution. “I was a bit shocked when I saw the score and thought, ‘Oh my goodness 53 goals’, that is just amazing,” Alexander said. “Bass has played so well this series, she’s such a true professional.”
While the final margin was five goals, little separated the arch rivals for the bulk of the match. New Zealand took the lead with five minutes remaining only for the Australians to quickly respond with sharp shooter Bassett proving the difference. Her haul set a new record, eclipsing her previous best Test mark of 49 goals.
The teams were locked 30-30 at half-time and the Australians looked to take control after Alexander made two decisive changes with April Brandley coming in at goal defence and skipper Clare McMeniman shifting to wing defence, which for a time unsettled the Silver Ferns.
The Diamonds opened up a five-goal lead however they couldn’t shake the Silver Ferns, with shooters Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Bailey Mes clawing back to trail by one at the final exchange.
With regular New Zealand goal attack Maria Tutaia sidelined by a foot injury, Queensland-born Ekenasio proved a headache for the Australians and finished with 23 from 34 attempts.
New Zealand coach Janine Southby, who took over the job this year, said she was disappointed to come away empty-handed after being in the match under the death.
“Up until the last two or three minutes it was a really tight game and we unfortunately let it slip,” Southby said. “It’s always disappointing because you know you’ve worked really hard and I thought that we had it in us and it was just a couple of basic errors that let us down.”
The teams will next meet in the Constellation Cup, which is played over four games with the first in Sydney on 9 October.
Earlier on Sunday, England secured third place in the tournament with a convincing 57-44 win over South Africa in the first game of the double header at Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena.
South Africa, who are coached by former Australian mentor Norma Plummer, got off to a promising start and had a two goal lead at quarter-time.
But world No3 England clicked into gear in the second period to build a four goal margin that blew out to nine points heading into the quarter with veteran English shooter Jo Harten finishing with 38 goals from 42 attempts.
