The Silver Ferns will meet Australia in the final of the Netball Quad Series after a hard-fought 55-45 win over the England Roses in Cape Town.
Silver Ferns Photo: PHOTOSPORT
With the prize for both teams being a place in the final, the Silver Ferns weathered a tenacious third-quarter comeback from the Roses with an impressive response in the run to the final whistle.
New Zealand was up by six goals at half time, but England were ahead by one early in the final stanza, before the Ferns took control again.
With a 92 percent shooting percentage from Grace Nweke, non-stop defensive work from Phoenix Karaka and the all-round play of captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio, the Silver Ferns were able to stop the Roses in their tracks with a withering final burst to earn a character-building win.
"Firstly, I'm really rapt that we're in the final, we haven't been here for a couple of years and it shows the promise in this current group,'' Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua said.
"Defensively we turned over a lot of ball but unfortunately, we weren't always able to take it through to the other end. That's the tightest we've been defensively and that's really pleasing.
"To come back in that last five minutes and win by 10 is a real credit to the workload they carried and the ethic shown by the girls out there.''
Dame Noeline made minimal changes for the Silver Ferns third match of the series following a win against South Africa and loss to Australia, Te Paea Selby-Rickit getting her first taste of action at the tournament with a start at goal attack and the returning Jane Watson getting the nod at goalkeeper.
The Silver Ferns will play Australia in the final on Thursday morning.
The Diamonds completed round-robin play with a win over South Africa.
Silver Ferns: 55
England: 45
Shooting Stats - Silver Ferns:
Grace Nweke 44/48 (91.7%)
Ameliaranne Ekenasio 7/9 (77.8%)
Te Paea Selby-Rickit 4/4 (100%)
Shooting Stats - England
Eleanor Cardwell 35/38 (92.1%)
Helen Housby 10/13 (76.9%)
MVP: Karin Burger