birmington, england (cmc)

World champions New Zealand suffered another setback in their build-up to the 2007 World Netball Championship (WNC) when they were beaten 50-47 by arch-rivals Australia in the Tri-Series Tuesday night at the Birmingham Indoor Arena.

The New Zealand 'Silver Ferns' crashed out of the series with this latest defeat, coming just two days after England shocked them 50-45 at the MEN Arena.

And with Tuesday night's victory, former world champions Australia set up an enticing match with England to decide the Tri-Series today.

The Australians, unseated as world champions by New Zealand at the 2003 WNC in Jamaica, made a strong start. They jumped into a five-goal lead after the first quarter and kept the advantage throughout against a sustained fight-back from the Silver Ferns.

"To beat them by a small margin, a nice tight margin, is good, because it's nice to know that we can win in those circumstances," the inspirational Australia captain Liz Ellis said after the game.

"It was a great result but we could probably perform a lot better actually. We made some mistakes, on the transition and bringing the ball out, and we can convert better up forward," she added.

Ellis put the usually solid New Zealand shooter Irene van Dyk under pressure from the first whistle, and she wilted, making numerous handling errors and missing several easy shots at key times in the match.

At the other end of the court, Australia's vice captain Sharelle McMahon shot with poise and control to register 24 of her side's goals, despite the close attentions of New Zealand's Joline Henry.

Australia led the quarters 17-12, 24-22, 37-36.