New Zealand Silver Ferns take series lead over tired Australia Diamonds

That advantage was extended to five goals by half-time with Australia going to the break up 29-24.

But it took just five minutes of the second term for the Ferns to put themselves back in the game, bringing the New Zealand side within two as the Diamonds led 40-38 with 15 minutes to go.

Bassett made her an appearance for the final eight minutes of the game in an attempt to rescue the slide, but her inclusion could not save a fading Australian side. Marinkovich defended the decision to bring Bassett on so late in the game.

“We were just trying to get a different direction of that way in which the ball was going into the circle,” she said.

“Caitlin is well experienced in tight situations so to be able to bring her on and see if that dynamic shifted it. It’s the things you’ve got to explore and you’ve got to take a chance on.”

Loading

The Diamonds were let down by their shooting accuracy of 78 per cent, compared to New Zealand’s 92 per cent.

“I think Cara and Kiera are putting really good momentum in the circle, but I think they’re still learning that when they’re on the baseline together how do they get themselves out of that,” Marinkovich said.

“It’s just going to take time to get that understanding that they can peel out and get their midcourt to assist.”

Meanwhile, netball fans outside New Zealand and Australia missed the nailbiter with the Sky Sport international live stream failing to work throughout the entire match.

The Silver Ferns apologised to international fans at half-time.

“Totally understand you are beyond annoyed with the stream being down,” a post on the Ferns official Twitter page read at half-time. “This has been escalated to the top and the team continue doing all they can to keep this service both reliable and FREE.”