Diamonds beat Silver Ferns 68-58 to hold on to world No 1

Australia's Diamonds beat New Zealand 68-58 in Melbourne on Wednesday, and they will stay world No 1 when the new netball rankings come out in December.

It was a close finish to a series that New Zealand had already won. The Silver Ferns led the Constellation Cup, the trans-Tasman series, 3-0 before this final match. Australia's win means they lose the series 3-1 rather than 4-0. It also ended New Zealand's run of 11 straight wins, as RNZ reported.

A New Zealand win would have moved them above Australia at the top of the world rankings. It would have been their first time at No 1 since 2013. The Guardian reported that Australia will keep the top spot instead.

The game was played at John Cain Arena. New Zealand edged the first quarter by one goal. Both teams scored 17 goals in the second quarter, so New Zealand still led by one point at half-time.

The third quarter belonged to Australia. With 90 seconds left in that quarter, they had gone seven points clear. They kept the lead to the end.

For anyone new to netball, the game is played by seven players, each allowed to move only in certain areas of the court. Every goal is followed by a centre pass, the restart from the middle of the court. A goal attack is a shooter who also helps build play, and a feed is a pass into the shooting circle. A goal assist is a pass that leads directly to a goal.

Australia's shooters were the most accurate on court. Georgie Horjus hit 26 of 28 shots and had 20 goal assists. Sophie Garbin scored 42 from 47. For New Zealand, Grace Nweke scored 42 from 45.

The playmakers ran the game. Australia captain Liz Watson made 50 feeds and 25 goal assists. New Zealand's Peta Toeava made 32 feeds and 28 assists.

Australia had injury problems. Kate Moloney started despite a finger injury. Jamie-Lee Price was out with a calf injury, and Matilda Garrett was out with concussion. Jo Weston was managed, and Sunday Aryang was sidelined with a knee injury. Coach Stacey Marinkovich made no changes during the match.

The win was Australia's last game before they defend the World Cup in Sydney next year. The Diamonds will go into that tournament still ranked No 1.