The New Zealand netballers have avoided the ignominy of four straight losses to Australia and marked Irene van Dyk's 100th Tes for the Silver Ferns with an emphatic 52-36 win in Auckland in the fifth and final test of the series.
Australia had already clinched the series with a one goal win at Invercargill on Sunday but after the fumbling the starting centre pass the Silver Ferns began pressuring the world champions into errors.
Although they were ahead only 11-9 after the first quarter they dominated the second and led 28-18 at half time with van Dyk and goal attack Maria Tutaia seldom missing.
Van Dyk's 92 per cent success rate, 33 from 36 attempts, earned her player of the match and a standing overation later.
The highest winning margin in the previous four tests had been four goals and the Silver Ferns 16-goal winning margin is their third highest in test matches against Australia.
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