World amateur No 1 Lydia Ko has helped New Zealand remain unbeaten and on course for a showdown tonight (NZT) with Great Britain and Ireland for the Astor Trophy at the Fairhaven Golf Club in Lancashire.
They beat Australia 4-3 after Ko rallied to defeat Ashley Ona 1 up inthe final singles match. Ona held a slight advantage when she won the 11th with a birdie four but 14-year-old Ko bounced back to win the 16th and 17th before she closed her opponent out with a par at the last.
New Zealand have never won the four-nations title but, with Ko and world No 3 Cecilia Cho, alongside the impressive international debut of Julianne Alvarez, they have a great chance of making history.
Defending champions Great Britain and Ireland, after winning two from two matches, had the bye and the match with New Zealand will decide the title.
Australia gave them their toughest match of the tournament to date. New Zealand led 1 to after the morning foursomes and that one-point lead at lunchtime was decisive because the five afternoon singles were shared 2 to 2.
Alvarez, New Zealand's lead-off singles player, beat Cathleen Santoso 3 and 2 but Australia won the next two ties with Emma de Groot beating Chantelle Cassidy 3 and 2 and Breanna Elliott defeating Emily Perry 7 and 5. Cho halved with Minjee Lee to make it 3-3.
In yesterday's other contest, South Africa beat Canada 5 to 1. Formerly known as the Commonwealth Tournament, the Astor Trophy is contested every four years between teams from Great Britain and Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
