Australia 46
Silver Ferns 40
The unpredictable nature of this week's Constellation Cup series has provided few clues to what may unfold in Delhi.
Australia will head to next month's Commonwealth Games as gold medal favourites after wrapping up the 2-1 series victory in Auckland last night with a six-goal win over the Ferns.
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Ferns' task of turning that around before Delhi will begin today when they begin post-tour evaluations.
Certainly their 19-goal win over Australia in Thursday's second test will give the New Zealand side some confidence that when they stick to their gameplan, they have the ability to dominate.
But last night's fourth-quarter slump, reminiscent of the opening-test defeat in Adelaide, casts doubt over the Ferns' ability to cope when the pressure comes on.
New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken said the series had highlighted several areas to work on.
"We have to get better at adjusting to umpires' interpretations and absorbing the intensity that a team brings without getting involved one-on-one," she said.
"Certainly we're really disappointed about today, but we do know: a, there is time; and b, it's also a one-off so we have to ensure we have to bring our best game to the court come Delhi."
Australian coach Norma Plummer has been quick to remind her team the real job is ahead of them and she is acutely aware of how quickly things can change in international netball.
"I guess you could say it's nice to win the Constellation Cup, but within two or three days it's all gone, it means nothing and it's past history," she said. "I'm never one to go in and think, 'Oh well, we've got this.' You've got to go in with eyes wide open and know on any given day it can all change."
One need only look at the topsy-turvy results over the course of the three-test series to confirm Plummer's theory. She said the past week had been a rollercoaster ride - "Quite frankly I'm buggered." But she was delighted with the way her side responded after Thursday night's confidence-sapping defeat.
Out-hustled by an in-your-face New Zealand defensive effort in Wellington, the Australians predictably upped the physicality last night. Across the court the Diamonds showed a more committed effort on defence, getting strong hands-over pressure to slow the Ferns' progress through the court.
With Australian midcourters Renae Hallinan and Natalie von Bertouch putting pressure on Temepara George and Laura Langman, the home side could not get the same speed or fluidity to their attack that was a feature of their play on Thursday night.
After trailing 14-9 at the first break, the Ferns battled back to level the score at 22-all at halftime, and remained firmly in the game heading into the final quarter with the scores locked at 31-all.
But a change to the Ferns' midcourt in the final quarter - which saw Langman benched and George shifted to centre to allow the injection of Liana Barrett-Chase - saw the momentum swing firmly in favour of the Australians, who in the space of five minutes opened up a 10-goal lead.
