Commonwealth Games: Silver Ferns do enough to beat Wales 70-43

Ameliaranne Ekenasio of the Silver Ferns shoots. Photo / Getty Images

It took a while but the Silver Ferns have eased clear of Wales 70-43 in their second match of the Commonwealth Games, although it was far from thoroughly convincing.

The Silver Ferns arrived on the Gold Coast having won just three of their previous 11 matches and on the back of a 13-goal win over Uganda on Thursday night.

They were ordinary in the second quarter today.

That period epitomised New Zealand's troubles of late, where they were all over the place defensively and toothless in attack, getting outscored 13-9 by the 10th-ranked side in the world.

Wales achieved their highest score against the Ferns and they should be happy with their efforts but they quickly started to fade in the second half.

After rushing out to a quick 10-1 run in the third quarter, the Ferns managed to steady the ship and were ultimately too strong for the Welsh.

Te Paea Selby-Rickit led the scoring for New Zealand with 28 goals, shooting 90 per cent from the field, while Kelly Jury put in typically strong performance in defence.

Next up is a tricky match against the Malawi Queens and coach Janine Southby admitted the players need to keep their foot down.

"Unfortunately we got away (from the plan) in the second quarter which was disappointing," she said of the poorest period of the game.

"In the second half we came out with better connections and doing their job the way we know they can."

Southby said there were "some tired bodies" after two games in less than 24 hours. So the focus will be on recovery and getting ready to face a Malawi side whom Southby is anticiating will provide a tough challenge.