Bowls: Kiwi bowls teams lose transtasman series to on-song Aussies

Photo / Ross Setford

The New Zealand men's and women's bowls teams lost the transtasman series decider against Australia at Howick yesterday.

Australia won the men's third test, four and half to one and a half, the result being decided as early as yesterday's second round when the best New Zealand could achieve in four matches was a first-round draw in the triples.

So the final two matches were largely for pride, Shannon McIlroy and Dan Delany winning the pairs from Aron Sherriff and Brett Wilkie, but the Ali Forsyth-skipped triple lost on this occasion 20-11 to Mark Casey's Australian line-up.

The second round was a total wipeout for the New Zealanders, the four suffering a comprehensive loss and McIlroy, despite playing well, just being pipped 21-20 by Casey in the singles.

It was an equally dismal day for the women's Black Jacks, who failed to fire despite an excellent green.

The only successes were Val Smith, who beat Kelsey Cottrell 21-16 in the singles, and a second-round 13-all draw by the four (skipped by Jo Edwards) with an Australian team skipped by the outstanding Karen Murphy.

That left the Kiwi women with a chance of stealing the test, provided they could win both matches in the third and final round.

But that depended on the triple winning for the first time in the three tests and that proved to be a hope in vain.

Sandra Keith was moved from two to skip instead of Mandy Boyd, but that didn't change their fortunes. A flat performance saw the New Zealanders crushed 19-4 by an on-song Australian display in which Murphy at skip was again an inspiration.

New Zealand's two most experienced players, Smith and Edwards, looked to have a chance in the pairs with Cottrell and Rebecca Quail. Coming to the last of the 15 ends, Smith and Edwards led a tight match 8-7, but then dropped two shots to lose 9-8.

The Australians also dominated in the development and under 18 sections, with New Zealand's only success in the under 18 men's.