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Diamonds too sharp for Silver Ferns

Australia were untroubled in extending their winning streak over the Silver Ferns to six matches on Thursday, dismantling the New Zealanders 59-42 at Stadium Southland in Invercargill.

The Diamonds were outstanding as they continued the devastating form which powered them to a 58-40 gold medal win at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in August.

A masterful midcourt effort, both on attack and defence, was at the heart of their win, which came almost exactly a year after their last loss, a 55-51 defeat to the Silver Ferns in Invercargill.

"We've come a long way in 12 months - we've done a lot of hard work," Australian coach Lisa Alexander said.

"I'm probably a little bit disappointed with that last quarter, but we have to recognise that was a good win."

Alexander said Diamonds' midcourt drive, which featured good ball speed and movement, and their ability to offer multiple options on attack was at the heart of the win.

Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunau described the Diamonds' organisation and variety on attack as outstanding.

"I think the Australian team played very well," she said.

"The fact that midcourt ran over the top of us pretty easily made it really difficult at both ends.

"You have to give credit to the Australian pressure as well. That was very good man-to-man marking and we didn't cope with it."

Player-of-the-match Madi Robinson and Kim Ravaillion combined impressively in bringing the ball downcourt with pace and variation, allowing Caitlin Bassett and Natalie Medhurst an armchair ride in the shooting circle.

The Diamonds started powerfully and maintained momentum to lead 13-8 at the end of the first quarter, driving further ahead in the second spell to effectively wrap the game up by halftime with a 32-17 lead.

The Silver Ferns shooters were starved of ball, Diamonds captain Laura Geitz celebrating her 50th international cap with an outstanding effort at the back in tandem with goal defence Julie Corletto.

Despite being happy with another runaway win, Geitz agreed with Alexander that there was still plenty of work to do ahead of next week's Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

"We still want that improvement, and we don't see that as a faultless performance - we're disappointed with how we finished," she said.

The New Zealanders struggled without the experience and cool head of injured goal attack Maria Tutaia - her shooting accuracy, and also her links through the midcourt and into the circle were sorely missed.

The home side lifted in a torrid third quarter, but the Australians cruised into the final 15 minutes with a 45-28 lead.

The outclassed Kiwis battled to the last minute, but Australia were clinical in completing an inevitable win.