Netball: Ferns crown van Dyk's milestone test

Irene van Dyk of the Silver Ferns secures the ball against Julie Corletto of the Diamonds during the fifth Test at Vector Arena. Photo / Getty Images

The Silver Ferns crowned Irene van Dyk's 100th netball test for New Zealand with a comprehensive 52-36 victory over arch rivals Australia here tonight.

Australia had an unassailable 3-1 lead going into the final test but there was still plenty at stake for both sides as the Diamonds chased four trans-Tasman wins in succession for the first time in more than a decade.

Instead, they trailed from start to finish as the Silver Ferns turned on their best performance of the series.

The margin was the biggest between the two countries since New Zealand's 61-36 win in Auckland in October, 2005, and represented the third largest win by the Silver Ferns over the Diamonds.

Van Dyk's milestone for her adopted country, after playing 72 tests for South Africa, added an extra element to the match.

Australian coach Norma Plummer was gracious in defeat and said van Dyk's accomplishment clearly inspired her teammates.

"Full credit to the Ferns. They came out with passion and they did it for Irene, you could see that."

Ace shooter van Dyk became teary-eyed as she was introduced to the 7000-strong crowd before the start of the game and took a couple of breaths to calm herself.

She composed herself sufficiently to end the match with 33 goals from 36 attempts for a 92 per cent success rate.

She got the better of her marker, goal keep Susan Fuhrmann, her nemesis in the 33-36 third test defeat in Brisbane and ended up being name player of the match.

She received her biggest cheer when she produced a lay-up to take New Zealand out to 44-31 midway through the fourth quarter.

Her shooting partner, Maria Tutaia, proved a good foil in the circle, contributing 19 goals from 27 attempts.

New Zealand showed improved speed through the court and there was also plenty of defensive pressure from skipper Casey Williams and Katrina Grant.

Plummer responded at the start of the final quarter by pulling of the shooting pairing of skipper Sharelle McMahon and Susan Pratley.

In their place came Catherine Cox, back from an ankle injury, and Natalie Medhurst.

Both sides made one change to their starting seven.

New Zealand coach Ruth Aitken began with Maria Tutaia at goal attack ahead of Paul Griffin, while Plummer brought in Lauren Nourse for Kimberlee Green at wing attack.

The contest began scrappily, with early mistakes from both side leading to turnovers.

However, the Silver Ferns grabbed the early edge when the contest settled down.

There was huge roar when van Dyk scored her first goal to edge New Zealand into a 3-2 lead, which stretched to four goals midway through the quarter before the Australians struck back to close the gap to 11-9 at the first break.

Plummer made a change at the start of the second quarter, bringing on Green for Nourse.

But the Silver Ferns, with centre Laura Langman in fine touch, particularly with her feeding into the circle, dominated the second quarter.

They won that period 17-9 to go into halftime up 28-18. At three-quarter time the gap was 39-28 and the home side continued to increase their cushion over the final quarter.

New Zealand centre Temepara George was later named player of the series.

Aitken, whose selections and strategy have been picked over in recent weeks, was relieved her side had at last put together the sort of performance they had been searching for, for all four quarters.

"We put it all together, it was a great team effort," Aitken said.

"We have let Australia back into the game before but tonight we pushed on really well and it was fantastic."

During the test, McMahon and the rest of the Melbourne Vixens in the Australia team wore black armbands in memory of Melbourne Phoenix club chairman Frank Rosbrook, who died last week.

The Phoenix were one of two Victorian teams in the Australian domestic championship before the advent of the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship.

- NZPA