Netball: Silver Ferns down Australia

7:30 AM

The New Zealand netball team has beaten world champion Australia 52-40 at the Tri-Nations series in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

The Silver Ferns led 15-12 after the first quarter and went to the halftime break leading 31-24.

The Kiwis continued to stretch their lead in the third and fourth quarters with a dominant display, featuring brilliant shooting by Irene Van Dyk.

New Zealand lost to Australia by one point in last year's world championship and suffered a 23-goal humiliation in June.

Today's win was the Silver Ferns fourth in the last 12 matches between the two trans-Tasman rivals. They last beat Australia in February 1999.

New Zealand coach Yvonne Willering says the team does not want the win to be a one-off, they want to push on and begin to dominate their trans-Tasman rivals.

She says the players have shown they deserve to be right there with Australia.

The Silver Ferns take on South Africa tomorrow morning in their final match of the series. There is no Tri Nations title at stake in this series.

- IRN