KEY POINTS:
England 40
Silver Ferns 38
After Monday's 39-goal capitulation to the Silver Ferns, England pulled off one of the most remarkable turnarounds in netball history overwhelming an out of sorts New Zealand side in Dunedin.
The series now heads to Palmerston North for the deciding third and
final test.
England promised a strong fightback after their 65-26 thumping in the opening test, but very few predicted they would hit back with such resolve.
The England side that took the court in Dunedin looked vastly different from the one that suffered such a hefty defeat only two days prior. They were sharper on attack, finding better penetration through the midcourt and strong ball movement around the circle.
But the real difference was the work they did off the ball, with the English stepping up their defensive game, never allowing the Ferns to find their flow on attack.
Having won by such a convincing margin in Auckland, Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken took the opportunity to test new combinations, with Daneka Wipiiti, Maree Bowden and Katrina Grant all getting the nod for the run-on side.
The English meanwhile were boosted by the return of goal-keep Geva Mentor, who had a telling impact on the visitors' defensive end. While Mentor still did not look 100 per cent, she and Mkoloma did an impressive job containing the Ferns twin towers of Wipiiti and Irene van Dyk in the shooting end.
They were able to put strong pressure on the shot, and confused the space for the feeders. As a result the New Zealand midcourt became hesitant with their feed in to the circle and the errors mounted.
Showing no signs of a blow to their confidence after their demoralising defeat in the opening test, the tourists started last night's match with gusto, out-hustling the home side right from the opening whistle.
After a low-scoring opening quarter, the Ferns looked to have found their groove midway through the second spell, taking a 20-14 lead in the latter stages of the first. But just when it looked as though the Ferns would pull away, the English battled back to trail 21-17 at halftime.
With New Zealand faltering on attack, coach Ruth Aitken opted to introduce Laura Langman at wing-attack. But even the workhorse midcourter couldn't settle the Ferns attack end, with errant passing and miscommunications continuing to plague the home side.
New Zealand were clearly rattled by the relentless English defence, with Mentor and Mkoloma doing a superb job of confusing the space for the feeders.
With England taking a 30-29 lead heading in to the final spell, Aitken was not willing to take any more risks, reverting to her first choice shooting combination with van Dyk moving back to goal-shoot and Maria Tutaia introduced at goal-attack.
Being introduced to the match at such a tense time clearly did not Tutaia no favours and the niggly English defence quickly got on top of her. With Tutaia struggling to find the confidence to put up the shots, England seized the initiative and held on.
