Silver Ferns stun Diamonds 56-50 to open Constellation Cup

New Zealand's Silver Ferns beat Australia's Diamonds 56-50 on Sunday at Spark Arena in Auckland to take a 1-0 lead in the four-game Constellation Cup.

The hosts started fast and finished firm. They led 15-10 at quarter-time, pushed the margin to 10 goals during the second quarter, then held off a late Australian surge. The Diamonds won the final quarter 17-11, but the gap proved too large to close, The Guardian reported.

The result continued the form swing from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. New Zealand entered the series as gold medallists. Australia arrived with bronze after a semi-final loss to Jamaica, which kept them out of the gold-medal match for the first time since netball joined the Games programme in 1998. Australia then beat England for third place.

There is a larger prize in play. Australia are ranked world No. 1. New Zealand will replace them at the top for the first time since 2013 if they sweep all four Tests in this series.

Shooter Grace Nweke decided much of it. She scored 40 goals from 41 attempts, holding strong inside the goal circle — the semi-circle where only the two shooters and two defenders may go. Australia tried several answers, including debutant goalkeeper Jessie Grenvold, a defensive-third specialist tasked with guarding the ring. None stuck for long.

Australia changed the middle too. Jamie-Lee Price replaced captain Liz Watson at centre for the second half. Centre is the link player, allowed in every third except the shooting circles, who takes the centre pass — the restart from the middle after every goal.

The night marked 100 games for Australian goalkeeper Courtney Bruce. Australia were without Jo Weston through load management and Kate Moloney with a finger injury. Coach Stacey Marinkovich used her whole bench, with all 12 Diamonds getting on court. For New Zealand, led by captain Karin Burger, Parris Mason was the only squad member not used, RNZ reported.

Shooter Sophie Dwyer was part of Australia's reset. She had missed an after-the-siren shot in the semi-final defeat to Jamaica and was unused on the bench in the bronze-medal win over England.

What makes this stand out is the venue trend. The defeat was Australia's 11th straight loss on New Zealand soil. Three Tests remain for the world No. 1 to stop the slide and keep the Cup.